Amano Renews Call for Diplomatic Solution to Iran's N. Issue

Addressing a seasonal meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, Amano called for a concerted international effort to find the diplomatic solution to the issue.

"There is an opportunity to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue diplomatically. Now is the time for all of us to work with a sense of urgency and seize the opportunity for a diplomatic solution," Amano underscored.

Earlier this month, Amano had said that Tehran has declared its nuclear materials to the IAEA, and the agency can confirm that all Iranian nuclear materials and facilities are used for peaceful purposes.

"The declared material and installation facilities of Iran are under the IAEA safeguards and we can verify that they stay in a peaceful purpose," the UN nuclear chief said after talks with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.

Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries.
irna/281