Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA) – Western media ignored a decisive report issued in Vienna on Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on Iran’s nuclear activities, which ended a four-year-long probe into the Islamic Republic’s nuclear drive and activities.Western, specially US, media made extensive maneuvers on ElBaradei’s report in previous cases, but this time they refrained from informing the public opinion in the West about the positive report by the UN nuclear watchdog chief on Iran’s nuclear activities and cooperation with the IAEA.
Western media started a vast coverage of a draft UN Security Council resolution on Iran officially presented to the UNSC on Friday, instead.
The United Nations Security Council has already slapped Iran with two sets of sanctions under US pressures and on the pretext of Washington’s unfounded claims about non-peaceful drives of Iran’s nuclear programs.
The Friday report by the IAEA chief demolished rationale of the US-led West for the imposition of fresh sanctions on Iran.
Washington laid much pressure on ElBaradei to include some negative or, at least, two-sided points in his Friday report in order for the US to be able to continue pressures, including fresh UN Security Council sanctions, on Iran.
The US is at loggerheads with Iran over Tehran’s independent and home-grown nuclear technology. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants.
Washington’s push for additional UN penalties contradicted the recent report by 16 US intelligence bodies that endorsed the civilian nature of Iran’s programs. Following the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and a similar report by the IAEA head in November which praised Iran’s truthfulness about key aspects of its past nuclear activities, Russia and China increased resistance to any further punitive measures by the Security Council.
Tehran says it never worked on atomic weapons and wants to enrich uranium merely for civilian purposes, including generation of electricity, a claim substantiated by the NIE and IAEA reports.
Iran has insisted it would continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhovin.
Not only many Iranian officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but also many other world nations have called the UN Security Council pressure unjustified, especially in the wake of recent IAEA reports saying Iran had increased cooperation with the agency.
US President George W. Bush, who finished a tour of the Middle East earlier this month has called on his Arab allies to unite against Iran.
But hosting officials of the regional nations dismissed Bush’s allegations, describing Tehran as a good friend of their countries.
Bush’s attempt to rally international pressure against Iran has lost steam due to the growing international vigilance, specially following the latest IAEA and US intelligence reports.
