A spokesman for the Iranian UN mission in New York Alireza Miryousefi says Tehran considers the activities of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) group “counterproductive” and contrary to the US announced policy to diplomatically interact with Iran.

Former American diplomats founded the privately financed advocacy group, UANI, in the United States which seeks to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear energy program. The organization uses pressuring companies to stop doing business with Iran as a means to halt the Iranian nuclear energy program.

In a statement, Miryousefi noted that the UANI founders have “worked within or were close to the US government.”

He added that Iran regarded the group as “counterproductive and contrary to the policy announced by the new administration [of President Barack Obama] in early 2009, which purportedly sought to diplomatically interact with Iran.”

The Iranian official added that the group which has been formed in line with Washington’s other hostile moves, including cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and unilateral sanctions, has “convinced Iran that the US does not mean what it says.”

In an article published on June 20, The New York Times claimed that the group is just another extension of US government's hostile behavior which contradicts President Obama’s pledge to improve relations with Iran when he first took office.

On June 1, 2012, The New York Times revealed that Israeli-developed Stuxnet computer virus was part of a wave of sophisticated digital attacks codenamed “Olympic Games,” which President Obama had ordered against the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities.

The paper also confirmed that the Stuxnet virus was created with the help of a secret Israeli intelligence unit.

Iranian experts, however, detected the worm in time, averting any damage to the country's industrial sites and resources.

The US, the Israeli regime and some of their allies falsely claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the unfounded claim as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on Iran.

Tehran strongly rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
 

News ID 184925