NAM Supports Iranˈs Peaceful N-rights, Program

Vienna, March 5, IRNA – Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) issued a statement Tuesday evening, simultaneously with IAEA board of governorsˈ seasonal session, voicing support once again for Iranˈs nuclear rights and peaceful nuclear program. Iranˈs Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and NAM Chairman Reza Najafi read out the statement at the agencyˈs board of governors, which is allocated to the agreements on the NPT safeguards and the related UN Security Council resolutions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. NAM has appreciated the IAEA General Director Yukiya Amano for his recent report on Iranˈs implementing of the agreements in accordance with the document GOV/2014/10. NAM has also expressed certainty that the agencyˈs secretariat acts professionally and unbiased in implementing the NPT safeguards on the Islamic Republic of Iran, similar with implementing them in any other country. The NAM has stressed that every country has the natural and inalienable right for expansion, research, production and use of the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, without discrimination and in accordance with the related commitments. ˈNo part should therefore be interpreted in a way to impose limitations, or prohibitions against the countriesˈ rights in development of the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The choices and decisions made by the difference countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, regarding peaceful usage of their nuclear energy, and their fuel cycles, must be respected,ˈ is says. NAM has also stressed that the UN nuclear watchdog is the only legitimate source for verification of its member states commitments and no pressure, or irregular interference in the agencyˈs activities, especially in its verification efforts is inacceptable as they would threaten the competence and credibility of the agencyˈs work. The NAM has also stressed the substantial difference between the legal duties of countries in accordance with the related treaties and the trust building measures adopted voluntarily, which should not be regarded as legal and obligatory commitments. NAM believes the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East will be a positive move towards the global nuclear disarmament, voicing support for the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council resolutions on the issue one more time. The NAM has stressed that the peaceful nuclear activities should be immune from any type of threats, or invasions, either during being constructed, or during their functions, as such attacks are great threats against the environment and the mankind, and they are considered obvious breaching of the international rights, the UN Charter, and the international nuclear laws. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) emphasizes that diplomacy, dialogue and conceptual negotiations without any preconditions among the concerned parts are the sole way for reaching a comprehensive in case of Iranˈs peaceful nuclear technology. It encourages refraining from publication of the technical details in director generalˈs reports on Iranˈs nuclear program, which include the countryˈs secrets, as before. The NAM has stressed that Iran has in accordance with the agreed treaties and safeguards announced 17 nuclear facilities and nine LOFs which are under verification tests of the agency. It also notes that the verification tests in Fordo Fuel Enrichment Program (FFEP) have proved that they match Iranˈs declared specifications although the agency has not declared its relative report and asked Iran for more information in that respect. The agency keeps on its supervision over the production and usage of the hot cells in Iran and has emphasized that Iran has conducted no recycling activities in any of them in accordance with its commitments, stresses the NAM statement. It notes that on February, 12, 2914 the information provided on Arak heavy water reactor (IR-40) have been tested and their authenticity has been verified by the agency, confirming that Iran has not produced the required heavy water for the launching of the IR-40. It stresses that in accordance with the framework of the cooperation document, Iran has provided access for the agency to the heavy water factory. The NAM welcomes the presentation of up-dated questionnaires on design information of the IR-40 on Feb. 12, 2014 to the agency in the framework of greater cooperation. NAM take note that the director general has in his report asked Iran to take further steps towards full implementation of the agreed safeguards, encouraging Iran to continue its full cooperation with the agency. NAM has also welcomed Iranˈs initial move in taking six practical steps following the signing of the cooperation document on Nov. 11, 2013, aimed at resolving the entire remaining issues. The statement said that diplomacy within the framework of the IAEA must continue as the only way for the resolution of the ongoing Western-led dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program. Iran and the UN nuclear body signed an agreement in November 2013 to outline a roadmap for bilateral cooperation on certain outstanding issues. Under the deal, Iran agreed, on a voluntary basis, to allow IAEA inspectors to visit Arak heavy water plant and Gachin uranium mine. The UN nuclear agency’s inspectors visited Arak heavy water production plant on December 8, 2013, as the first step to be implemented under the Iran-IAEA agreement. Addressing the same event, the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano hailed Iranˈs efforts in implementing the landmark nuclear deal reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States -- plus Germany on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 24 last year./end