Spokesman Warns about Oil Mafia in Iran

Iranian Government Spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham here Wednesday spoke of a mafia group in Iran which seeks to control the country’s giant oil industries to use its huge revenues for family and partisan interests. Elham said President Ahmadinejad and his administration view employees of the oil industries as a huge capital for Iran, and underlined that the government’s statements about the existence of an oil mafia in Iran does not pertain to the ministry’s staff and experts.

“The oil mafia is formed of those who are outside the oil industry and seek to control this national capital to use this national wealth for their partisan and family interests,” Elham told reporters during his weekly press conference here today.

Elsewhere, he pointed to the third round of talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Tehran this week, and said that the agreements made by the two sides about resolving the remaining issues would not mean a suspension of Iran’s nuclear activities.

“Retreating, stopping or suspending (enrichment activities) is not on the working agenda of the Islamic Republic of Iran and this could be clearly seen in Iran’s stances,” the spokesman said.

“These agreements and talks take place in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and safeguard rules and regulations,” he said, stressing that Tehran may not give up its inalienable rights to use civilian nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Asked to comment on EU’s efforts to pass a new resolution at the UN Security Council against Iran, Elham said, “We believe that decisions about Iran’s nuclear issue should be made by the IAEA and not in New York and that the Security Council has picked up a wrong trend.”

He said resolutions would not disturb a working trend – Iran’s negotiations with the IAEA – which is acceptable to all countries.

The spokesman voiced pleasure with the present trend of talks between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog, and underlined that Iran would carry on following its legal measures to protect the rights of the Iranian nation.

Meantime, he reminded that his country would not be hurt by resolutions, and added, “And if there is a damage or loss, it will be the West’s economic ties which will be harmed.”