Nuclear energy program is Iran’s legal right: Soltanieh

Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh says the country’s nuclear energy program is a legal right and a national issue with a bright future ahead.

“Iran uses nuclear technology for completely peaceful objectives, which have been reiterated in the NPT (the Non-Proliferation Treaty), such as energy generation and its use for scientific purposes including in medical and agricultural sectors,” Soltanieh said on Wednesday.

He added that, through its nuclear energy program, Iran seeks a new opportunity to enter modern economic fields.

The envoy emphasized that the global arrogance uses Iran’s nuclear energy program as an excuse to exert pressure and issue threats against the country with the purpose of “preventing Iran from gaining access to a [reliable] energy source.”

Soltanieh said that Iran has so far had extensive cooperation with the UN nuclear agency in line with the NPT regulations and would proceed with its cooperation with the IAEA in the future.

The IAEA has inspected Iran’s nuclear sites without any limits and in accordance with the NPT and reported no diversion in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy activities, he pointed out.

Soltanieh’s remarks came ahead of a fresh round of talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany known as the P5+1.

Officials from the P5+1 group, which comprises Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany, are due to hold two-day talks with the Iranian negotiators in the Kazakh city of Almaty on April 5-6.

Iran and the P5+1 have held several rounds of talks with a focus on the Iranian nuclear energy program. The last round of the negotiations between the two was held in Almaty on February 26-27.

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

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.