IAEA should help develop ‘peaceful nuclear technology’

TEHRAN, Jan. 18 (MNA) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Yukiya Amano of the IAEA in the absence of monitoring systems such as NPT, Additional Protocol and the IAEA, Iran will avoid nuclear weapons according to its ethical and religious principles. President Rouhani and Mr. Yukiya Amano, the IAEA General Director met on Monday in Tehran. Mr. Rouhani said that his country would remain committed to its obligations as long as the Powers were committed to their own; “solving Iran’s nuclear issue provides an important example of the contemporary diplomatic efforts. We will be committed to the fact that our nuclear program is peaceful and will never deviate to weapons,” he told Amano. “The IAEA should help other countries in developing peaceful nuclear technologies along with its missions to monitor and regulate nuclear activities; as a committed member of the IAEA, Iran expects to receive the Agency’s aid in improving and modernizing its nuclear industry,” Rouhani proposed. Yukiya Amano, for his part, believed that JCPOA was a great event and congratulated Iran on this ‘great feat of achievement;’ “the IAEA and myself are committed to have an unbiased, unpolitical, and legal approach to the JCPOA implementation, and welcome improving ties with Tehran to build confidence more than ever,” he added. “I fully agree with your remarks on the duties and rights of the IAEA member states; our mission in the Agency is not only to protect peace, but also is to help develop peaceful nuclear technology and its transfer to developing countries from industrial countries,” Amano admitted. “In the new circumstances created with the implementation of JCPOA, the IAEA and Iran now have more conducive grounds to extend cooperation,” he added.