No proof for anti-Iran nuclear claims

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected the unfounded allegation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, stressing that there is no evidence backing up the claim.

“I haven’t seen any confirmation by any intelligence — be it Russian, be it European, be it the United States, be it Mossad — that would categorically say that Iranian leadership has taken a political decision to have a military nuclear program,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russia Today on Tuesday.

“No intelligence agency on earth has been able, so far, to make this conclusion. And we spoke to our American colleagues just recently. They agreed that Iran hasn’t taken a political decision to go military in its nuclear program,” the top Russian diplomat added.

In 2007, a report by the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) verified Iran was not after nuclear arms. The report, prepared by 16 US intelligence agencies, confirmed with “high confidence” the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. A similar report was also published in 2011.

Also in March 2012, a US intelligence official announced the consensus of Washington and the Tel Aviv regime over the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

“There is not a lot of dispute between the US and Israeli intelligence communities on the facts” that Iran has not deviated from its peaceful nuclear program, the New York Times quoted the unnamed former top US intelligence official as saying.

Despite this, the US, Israel and some of their allies continue to claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the unfounded claim as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on Iran.

Tehran strongly rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iran and the six major world powers have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Tehran’s nuclear energy program. The two sides have agreed to meet in Geneva on October 15 and 16 for further talks.

Lavrov said that as talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany progress, the international community “must arrive to a point where everyone would be satisfied that the Iranian nuclear program is entirely peaceful.”

“And then Iran should be out of any sanctions — both the sanctions imposed by the Security Council and also unilateral sanctions,” he said.