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Iran: ‘IAEA must facilitate nuclear safety’

A top Iranian nuclear official has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to promote nuclear safety by facilitating the exchange of nuclear safety data among member states.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is concerned that under the existing trend, information pertaining to nuclear safety has been monopolized by certain countries under the pretext of non-disclosure of sensitive information. In these conditions, the inalienable rights of developing countries are undermined,” said Director of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi in a high-level meeting on improving nuclear safe practices in Vienna on Monday .

Abbasi called for more cooperation between the IAEA and member states on upgrading the level of training and facilitating the exchange of information aimed at improving nuclear safety measures.

The Iranian official said safety issues encountered in incidents such as Japan’s Fukushima disaster should not constitute an obstacle to the development of peaceful nuclear technology and added that such incidents call for the promotion of new nuclear safety standards and underline the need that all member states, especially developing countries, are provided with necessary information pertaining to peaceful nuclear activities.

Abbasi called on the Japanese government to provide transparent information to the IAEA on the Fukushima disaster and urged the IAEA to investigate the information and provide member states with the required data to help prevent similar disasters.

The AEOI head pointed out that the IAEA should render assistance to member states on tightening and improving nuclear safety and said, “Any defect in nuclear safety [standards] could cause highly irreparable damage to the world community. Therefore, there should be no restrictions imposed on the exchange of information and access to safety equipment and systems, including the [Nuclear] Emergency Response Program.”

Abbasi reiterated that the Article 61 of the IAEA Statute states that nuclear safety standards are not practical unless member states are provided with the required information.

He also criticized the IAEA for repeatedly barring Iranian experts and delegations from attending nuclear safety meetings due to the “illegal” US-engineered resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The Iranian official, however, insisted that the UNSC resolutions were illegal based on the IAEA Statute and the Safeguards Agreement, adding that even the UNSC resolutions did not mention that Iranian experts could not attend such meetings.

On Iran’s first nuclear power plant, Abbasi said that Tehran’s priority was to make sure that the plant was fully safe before it comes on stream and added that the Bushehr nuclear plant meets a high level of safety standards.

Abbasi further explained that the IAEA has verified the safety of the Iranian plant in various reports as well.

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