Iran raps UNSC, IAEA for silence on Israel threats

Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has slammed the UN nuclear watchdog and Security Council (UNSC) for failing to take action over Israeli threats against Iran, Press TV reports. Today, the world is witnessing the Zionist regime of Israel’s repeated threats of military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, which is quite obviously a violation of the IAEA charter, Ali Asghar Soltanieh said during an address to a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna on Thursday. The silence of IAEA members, particularly the Board of Governors, on the issue will damage the agency’s credibility, he added, while criticizing the UNSC for its inaction over Israel’s threats. During the speech, Soltanieh also called on the IAEA member states to condemn the violation of the agency’s charter and ask its Director General Yukiya Amano to report any relevant development to the UNSC. During a press conference after the meeting, he once again denied allegations that Tehran is after military objectives in its nuclear energy program and said “The truth is that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapon[s].” “The truth is that whatever they have said during the last ten years, that within the next couple of months Iran is going to test a nuclear weapon, was not correct,” he added, referring to Western claims about Iran's nuclear activities. Iran’s IAEA envoy also described recent accusations of nuclear activity at the military site of Parchin in Tehran as “ridiculous.” “I said this is a ridiculous childish story they are making out of nothing,” he pointed out. Iran allowed IAEA experts, in a confidence-building move, to inspect Parchin in 2005. Former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei stated in his report that no military nuclear activity was being conducted at the site. Soltanieh finally noted that Tehran will continue to work with the atomic agency based on a new modality which is to be agreed upon. The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of seeking to weaponize its nuclear technology and have used the pretext to impose sanctions against Iran. The US and Israel have also threatened to carry out military strikes on Iran’s nuclear installations. Iran has repeatedly refuted the Western allegations regarding its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's nuclear energy program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.