Western honesty key to resolving Iran nuclear issue

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says a comprehensive and optimal solution to the Iranian nuclear issue could be worked out provided that the West, and the United States in particular, negotiates sincerely in the talks with the Islamic Republic.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always closely cooperated with the [International Atomic Energy] Agency. An appropriate and effective way out of Iran’s nuclear impasse could be devised should the West, and especially the United States, truthfully engage in negotiations with Tehran,” Larijani said at a meeting with South African National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu in Tehran on Saturday.

Sisulu criticized the United States for following a double-standard policy toward Iran’s nuclear energy program while turning a blind eye toward Israel’s nuclear activities.

The South African parliament speaker also said Pretoria supports Tehran’s legitimate right to access civilian nuclear energy.

Experts estimate that Israel has between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country’s Dimona nuclear reactor, who was imprisoned for 18 years for the disclosure.

In May 2008, former US President Jimmy Carter said Israel has at least 150 nuclear weapons.

Iran says that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.

Iran plans to generate 17.5 percent of the country’s electricity needs — about 20,000 megawatts — through nuclear energy over the next two decades.

However, Washington and its allies accuse the Islamic Republic of pursuing a military nuclear program, although they have never produced conclusive evidence to back up their claims.

In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.