Iran Sets Conditions On 1st Day Of IAEA Board of Governors Meeting

Vienna, Sept 11, IRNA – The first day of the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was held while Iran set two conditions for reaching an agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog on a new modality. Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Monday that Tehran would agree on a new modality with the UN nuclear body if the latter observed Iran’s national security and submitted solid documents on alleged studies. Speaking to IRNA, Soltanieh said, no new framework would be made unless Iran's "principled demands" were met by the IAEA. Meeting of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors opened in Vienna on Monday and would close on Friday. He then referred to allegations made by the West on Iran-IAEA talks, as "baseless and fake." Iran will continue its past efforts to interact with the IAEA to prove the baseless nature of those claims, Soltanieh said, adding, however, it should certainly be done after setting a framework. He stressed that the new framework should respect "Tehran's security considerations as a criterion." Moreover, Soltanieh said consultations are underway for the next round of talks between Iran and the IAEA the date and venue of which would be announced after the two sides reached agreement on the issue. The latest round of Iran-IAEA talks was held in Vienna on August 24. Addressing a press conference, the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano reacted to Soltanieh's comments by voicing the body's readiness to provide Tehran with its requested documents which allegedly were the basis of the agency's suspicious about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities. The agency is ready to provide the documents in due time, Amano said without referring to an exact date of presenting them. He made no comments on Iran's second condition which respects Tehran's security considerations./end