German daily blasts western 'Mafia diplomacy' on Iran

Berlin, Nov 5, IRNA -- Berlin-based daily newspaper Junge Welt here Saturday lashed out at what it called western 'Mafia diplomacy' ahead of release of next week's report by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran's nuclear program. The paper said in an editorial that this kind of policy was apparently aimed at 'influencing' the drafting of the UN nuclear watchdog's report. It added that the US and Israel had been pressing the IAEA to openly accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons in its upcoming quarterly report which could then be used by the West to adopt a tougher stance on Tehran during the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on November 17 and 18. Iran has time and again stated its nuclear program was solely peaceful and that it was fully cooperating with the Vienna-based UN nuclear agency. In September, Tehran welcomed as a 'step forward' an IAEA report on its nuclear activities, saying it highlighted positive steps taken by Tehran towards 'cooperation and transparency.' The report 'repeated the very important message that no diversion in the nuclear activities has been seen,' Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh was quoted saying. 'The report also contains new positive issues, including the steps that the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken towards cooperation and transparency,' he added. Soltanieh stressed that the report was 'evidence of Iran's transparent and peaceful nuclear activities.' 'The report explicitly mentions Iran's cooperation in providing information and (efforts) to remove ambiguities and answer some questions,' he said, adding it was 'a step forward.' The Iranian envoy also rejected western demands for uranium enrichment suspension, saying Iran 'has repeatedly proved according to the international documents that such demands have no technical or lawful basis.' /end