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Iran insists on no nuclear diversion

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms that Iran’s nuclear program has not diverted from the right track, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says.

“The Agency continues to report to the Board of Governors – over 20 times – that there is no diversion of the nuclear material,” Ali Asghar Soltanieh told Press TV in an exclusive interview late Tuesday.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA said the UN Agency’s most recent report, which accuses Iran of hampering nuclear verification efforts, has serious shortcomings, arguing that the format of the report has deviated from the correct standard.

In the report, Soltanieh said, the IAEA has once again confirmed publicly that it is able to continue with its verification work in Iran, which runs counter to any intervention by the UN Security Council (UNSC) in Iran’s nuclear program.

He reiterated that UNSC’s involvement in Iran’s nuclear issue has been illegal and unfounded based on the IAEA statutes, which only warrants such intervention when verification cannot be performed.

Soltanieh also criticized the UN Agency for copying pages from the UNSC sanctions resolution in its latest report, calling the move a grave mistake. “The IAEA is not a subsidiary body of the United Nations,” he emphasized.

He rejected the claims that Iran was not cooperating with the IAEA, adding that the agency’s expectations to inspect th Arak Heavy Water plant was over and above Iran’s obligations, since Iran is not implementing the additional protocol.

“The Agency might expect that we can implement additional protocol but we can not,” he continued.

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