IAEA should not be politically swayed over Iran: Iranian MP

An Iranian lawmaker has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to avoid a political approach to Iran’s nuclear energy program.

“The agency should refrain from [adopting] political stances [on Iran] and it should not be swayed by big powers,” Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Monday.

He said the IAEA is under the political sway of US and Israeli spying agencies. “The big powers use the Agency as a tool to achieve their objectives; that is why the IAEA has acted outside the framework of the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and the regulations it must remain committed to.”

The IAEA had compiled its reports on Iran’s nuclear energy program under political influence and based on undocumented evidence provided by the spy agencies, Naqavi-Hosseini said, urging the UN nuclear body to take technical and legal considerations into account when dealing with Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran says its nuclear activities are entirely civilian, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Tehran has repeatedly called on the IAEA not to be influenced by the US and its allies, warning that the body would undermine its credibility by publishing unfounded prejudiced reports about Iran’s nuclear energy work.