TEHRAN - The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations has said the time has come for the International Atomic Energy Agency to end the political arguments over Iran’s nuclear program that it has been using ad nauseam.

Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh made the remarks in response to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano’s statement on Monday, in which he said that Iran seems to have carried out nuclear-related activities with possible military links until recently.
The IAEA has received “further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities that seem to point to the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program”, Amano said in his introductory statement at a meeting of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna on Monday.
“There are indications that certain of these activities may have continued until recently,” he added.
However, Amano did not say where the evidence came from, nor did he provide details about the allegations.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Soltanieh dismissed Amano’s remarks, saying that there is no substance to the information that has been provided to the agency.
Amano should study the evidence provided by reliable sources and should make sure that it is solid, he stated.
The Iranian ambassador to the UN also said Amano’s report suffers from a lack of transparency.
In addition, in an interview with IRNA published on Monday, Soltanieh advised the IAEA director to abide by his commitments to Tehran so that Iran’s nuclear dossier can be declared closed.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Soltanieh spoke about the written reply that Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Fereydoun Abbasi Davani has sent to Amano’s most recent letter.
In his letter, Abbasi wrote that Iran has fully implemented the provisions of the modality plan signed by Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog in 2007, Soltanieh said.
He also described Abbasi’s letter as “constructive”, adding that Amano spoke about Abbasi’s letter in his introductory statement to the IAEA Board of Governors.
Now the ball is in the agency’s court, and the IAEA director is obliged to implement what has been stipulated by the modality plan, Soltanieh added.
However certain countries, such as the United States, Japan, France, and Britain, are opposed to the modality plan and are making efforts to thwart the implementation of the agreement, he observed.
Soltanieh also said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated that it is opposed to the development of nuclear weapons and that its nuclear activities are meant for peaceful purposes and are being conducted under the supervision of the IAEA.
Amano’s stance has diminished status of IAEA
In addition, Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi has said the political approach that the IAEA director has adopted toward Iran’s nuclear program has diminished the status of this important international organization.
Amano’s remarks are politicized and lack legal weight, Boroujerdi, who is the chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.
“Iran should deliver a serious response to Amano’s remarks,” he stated.
“More than 100 member states of the agency have confirmed Iran’s cooperation with this organization, and this indicates that it (the IAEA) has become a tool in the hands of certain countries,” Boroujerdi added.