Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Despite frequent threats posed to the country, Tehran still cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iranian parliament had earlier warned that in case the UN Security Council issues any resolution against the country, Tehran would ban entry of IAEA inspectors into Iran.
Yet, Iran is still continuing its cooperation with the Agency. Two of the IAEA inspectors are currently in Iran to pay visits to Isfahan UCF plant and Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
The visits of the IAEA inspectors fall within the safeguard agreement of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is viewed as the Agency’s routine inspections of nuclear sites.
Last month after Iran announced the start of operation by its second network of centrifuges, a two-member team of inspectors arrived here to monitor operation of the second cascade of centrifuges and uranium enrichment in Isfahan’s UCF plant and Natanz enrichment facility.
Iran’s second network of centrifuges, similar to the first one, enriches uranium for merely civil purposes as it enriches uranium within a range of 3.5 to 5 percent. The enriched uranium would be used as nuclear fuel in Iran’s nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.
An informed source earlier told FNA that despite West’s threats of sanctions, Iran has decided to continue its nuclear activities under IAEA supervision and in full accordance with its time-table.
He said Iran’s nuclear activities are fully supervised by the IAEA inspectors and cameras, stressing that Tehran is observing the rules and contents of the NPT Comprehensive Safeguard Agreement in full.
Iran has cooperated with the Agency so much and so sincerely that it has allowed IAEA inspectors to pay uncalled visits to its nuclear sites and facilities.
IAEA inspectors have even been allowed in some cases to pay visits to Iran’s military sites.
The IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei last month approved Iran’s new uranium enrichment tests and equipments, and said that “Iran’s second cascade of centrifuges has been installed and is ready to start work.”
Despite intense propaganda by the US and some EU countries, the regular visits of the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to the Iranian nuclear sites and installations further illustrates Iran’s transparent cooperation with the IAEA.
In addition, all Iran’s nuclear activities are also supervised and recorded by the IAEA cameras installed in all Iranian nuclear sites and centers.
So far an unprecedented figure of over 2000 person/day inspections have been carried out of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the IAEA, but all inspection reports, including those presented by the IAEA Director-General Mohammad ElBaradei to the UNSC and Board of Governors, are in confirmation of Iran’s continued adherence to the IAEA and NPT rules and regulations.
A recent US Senate report alleged that Iran’s nuclear capabilities are far more advanced and beyond the information revealed to the IAEA or gained by the US intelligent agencies.
The US Senate has claimed that Iran is enriching uranium with the purity level needed for the manufacture of nuclear weapons at Natanz nuclear plant.
The report was strongly censured by the IAEA in such a way that the Agency stressed in a statement issued on September 13 that the US Senate report not only contains wrong and misleading information and data but also is unfounded.
IAEA has stressed that Iran’s nuclear activities, particularly its enrichment programs and activities, are under tight supervision of the Agency, reminding that while uranium must be enriched to a level beyond 90% of purity to be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, Iran has so far done the enrichment up to the purity level of only 3.5%.
