TEHRAN, Iran — Iran cited the latest report by U.N.’s nuclear watchdog as evidence that its atomic program is being used for peaceful purposes, state TV reported on Friday ahead of a new round of nuclear talks with the West.
The report Thursday by the International Atomic Energy Agency also said, however, that without Iranian “engagement,” the agency will be unable to resolve concerns “which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.”
State TV quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the energy agency, as saying that the report from the Vienna-based watchdog shows Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful.
Soltanieh said Iran has been committed to continuing talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency and stressed that the talks require a “calm, propaganda free atmosphere.”
“The most important point of the report is that after a decade of continuous inspections by the agency, there is no evidence on divergence toward military purposes in Iran’s nuclear material and activities,” Soltanieh was quoted as saying.
The agency’s report also said Tehran had recently installed advanced machines at its main uranium enrichment site in Natanz - a significant upgrade of a program that the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons.
The report, circulated to the 35-nation agency board, was the first independent and on-record confirmation that the work had begun and was advancing.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/23/2013