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US plays politics with research reactor

A senior Iranian official warns the US against adopting a political approach towards the Tehran reactor at the end of Tehran disarmament conference.

“This political move targeting the Tehran reactor will not be in the interest of the United States and I hope the Americans take this fact into consideration,” Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters following the closure of the conference on Sunday.

The Tehran reactor became operational with the help of Americans and its fuel was provided by the United States before the 1979 Islamic Revolution; therefore Washington is fully aware that the nuclear facility is totally aimed to meet the medical demands of the nation, Mottaki explained.

According to a US-proposed deal, backed by the UN nuclear watchdog, Iran had to send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing and conversion into fuel rods for the Tehran research reactor, which produces medical isotopes.

Iran agreed to the IAEA-backed proposal but said it needed guarantees that the other side would deliver the fuel in a timely manner – a demand the West has so far ignored.

Mottaki criticized the West’s ‘double standard’ policies, in particular those of the US in respect to its support for Israel’s nuclear activities and weapons and its opposition to Non-proliferation Treaty members, who are simply seeking a peaceful nuclear program.

Iran, a signatory to the Non-proliferation Treaty, says all its nuclear activities are peaceful and under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Organization.

“The nuclear activities of the Israeli regime should be forcefully brought under supervision,” he stressed.

Israel is reported to have hundreds of nuclear warheads and one of the pioneers in acquiring nuclear arms, but has refused to sign the NPT.

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