IAEA report can stymie Iran-P5+1 talks
Russia has warned the UN nuclear agency against issuing a negative report on Iran’s nuclear energy program, saying such a move could undermine diplomatic efforts to resolve the West’s dispute with Tehran.
In a statement published on its website on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed concern about the timing of the release of the report, which is scheduled to be issued next month, IRNA reported.
Moscow urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to handle the issue in an unbiased, delicate, and responsible way.
"It would without a doubt strain the atmosphere and may hinder the start of serious negotiations… This sensitive topic requires unbiased, delicate, and responsible handling, which can hardly be possible, given the promotional hype that has begun even before the publication (of the) IAEA director general’s report,” read part of the statement.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed hope that the IAEA would adopt an ”objective and impartial” approach toward the Iranian nuclear program.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu stated that China believes dialogue and negotiations are the proper way to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
The Chinese official urged the IAEA to continue interactive cooperation with Iran and emphasized the importance of holding ”diplomatic talks” to resolve the dispute.
On October 22, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany -- is ready ”œto agree on a next meeting [with Iran] within the coming weeks at a mutually convenient venue.”
Iran and the P5+1 group have held two rounds of multifaceted talks over the past 12 months, one in Geneva in December 2010 and the other in Istanbul last January.
Tehran says it is ready to continue the discussion but has no intention of backing down on its nuclear rights.
The UN nuclear agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
And as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, Iran maintains that it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.
Source: presstv.ir
