Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Friday that Iran will not close the underground nuclear site as the country sees “no justification” for doing so, Reuters reported.
"Fordow is a safe place. We have spent a lot of money and time to have a safe place…. When you have a safe place, secure place under IAEA control, then why do you tell me that I should close it?"
The Fordow nuclear facility, Iran's second site for enriching uranium, is located south of Tehran.
Asked about the possibility of Iran agreeing to stop uranium enrichment activities in the forthcoming negotiations with the P5+1 - including the US, Britain, France, China, and Russia, plus Germany - Soltanieh said, “One thing is clear: the enrichment in Iran will never be suspended.”
"Neither sanctions, nor military actions, nor terror against our scientists will stop the enrichment,” he emphasized.
Iran and P5+1 held the first round of new multifaceted talks in Turkish port city, Istanbul, on April 14 following a 15-month hiatus, after which both sides expressed satisfaction over the general atmosphere of negotiations.
The two sides have agreed to hold the second round of their new talks in Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad, on May 23.
The US and European Union accuse Iran of pursuing military goals under the cover of its nuclear energy program and have imposed international and unilateral sanctions against the country.
Tehran refutes their claims noting that as a committed member of IAEA and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty it is entitled to the peaceful application of the nuclear energy.
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Iran's Ambassador to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the country will never suspend uranium enrichment and sees no reason to close the Fordow nuclear site.
News ID 181768
