IAEA chief says Iran still fails to prove nuclear program purely peaceful

IAEA chief says Iran still fails to prove nuclear program purely peaceful

2011-03-08 06:02:24 GMT+7 (ICT)

VIENNA, AUSTRIA (BNO NEWS) -- IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano on Monday said that Iran still fails to provide necessary cooperation to prove its nuclear program is purely peaceful.

"Full implementation by Iran of its binding obligations is needed to establish international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," said Amano to the IAEA Board of Governors.

The IAEA Director added that his agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at nuclear facilities and locations outside facilities declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement but without Iran's necessary support.

"Iran is not providing the necessary cooperation to enable the Agency to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities." Amano remarked.

Iran has repeatedly claimed that its nuclear program has always pursued peaceful means and said it is a civilian path to provide power to Iran's growing population, as fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

However, the United States and many other countries have raised suspicion since the discovery in 2003 that Iran had concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In June 2010, the United Nations Security Council imposed the Islamic country under a fourth round of sanctions over its nuclear program. The measures cited the proliferation risks of its nuclear program and its continued failure to cooperate with the IAEA.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the sanctions were illegal and downplayed any effect it might have had in the Islamic nation.

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