NAM Statement Supports Iran’s N. Rights

TEHRAN (FNA)- The XV Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran on 27-30 July 2008 issued a statement in support of Iran’s nuclear program, which was later circulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In the face of UN Security Council Resolutions on Iran, NAM, which comprises 118 nations (about two thirds of UN member states), has in its statement “reaffirmed the basic and inalienable right of all states to develop research, production and use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, without any discrimination and in conformity with their respective legal obligations.”

It says Iran’s choices “in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear technology and its fuel cycle policies must be respected.”

Furthermore, the statement demands that “all safeguards and verification issues, including those of Iran, should be resolved within the IAEA framework, and be based on technical and legal grounds.”

With respect to the ongoing talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), NAM has “welcomed the continuing cooperation being extended” by Iran and the voluntary steps Iran has undertaken “with a view to resolving all remaining issues.”

The Non-Aligned Movement also said that it welcomed the fact that “the IAEA has been able to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran.”

It noted at the same time that “the process for drawing a conclusion with regard to the absence of undeclared material and activities in Iran is an ongoing and time consuming process. In this regard, the Ministers further welcomed the modality agreement reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the IAEA on 21 August 2007 leading to the resolution of the six outstanding issues as a significant step forward towards promoting confidence and a peaceful resolution of the issue.”

The statement has also called for a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East and for Israel to immediately join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT): NAM ministers “considered the establishment of nuclear-weapons-free-zones (NWFZs) as a positive step towards attaining the objective of global nuclear disarmament and reiterated the support for the establishment in the Middle East of a nuclear weapons free zone in accordance with relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. Pending the establishment of such a zone, (the Ministers) demanded Israel to accede unconditionally to the NPT without delay and place promptly all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards in accordance with Security Council Resolution 487 (1981).”

NAM warned against any military attack on any nuclear plant as a gross violation of the UN Charter and called for negotiations without preconditions: The statement “reaffirmed the inviolability of peaceful nuclear activities and that any attack or threat of attack against peaceful nuclear facilities – operational or under construction – poses a great danger to human beings and the environment, and constitutes a grave violation of international law, principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and regulations of the IAEA.”

The Ministers finally “expressed their conviction that the only way to resolve the issue is to pursue substantive negotiations without any preconditions among all relevant parties.”