Iran Never Compromises its National Security

The Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran is ready to cooperate with the agency as long as the Islamic Republic’s national security is not compromised.

"We are ready to cooperate with the IAEA without compromising our national security… provided that we are convinced that efforts are aimed at finalizing Iran's nuclear case, not pursuing a futile process,” Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.

Soltanieh made the remarks in response to the IAEA's latest resolution on Iran's nuclear energy program.

The Iranian envoy reiterated that Tehran “will never compromise regarding its inalienable right to peaceful nuclear energy, including uranium enrichment.”

He also criticized politicization of Iran’s nuclear energy program, saying that the country’s nuclear file remains open due to unfounded allegations made by a few Western countries.

Iran's Ambassador to IAEA has denounced the latest resolution by the UN agency on Iran’s nuclear energy program as "political”.

“Although efforts were made to pass the resolution at the Board of Governors by consensus, [it] was passed after 24 hours without consensus, denoting in reality the failure of the US diplomacy,” Soltanieh said.

Egypt, Ecuador and Tunisia abstained while Cuba voted against the non-binding measure which rebuked Iran for “defying international demands to curb uranium enrichment and failing to address mounting disquiet about its suspected research into atomic bombs.”

Soltanieh added that from time to time, a resolution with political objectives is passed at the 35-member board against Iran’s nuclear activities merely “to keep the issue alive.”

He once again emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran would continue cooperation with the IAEA as a committed member of the agency but would never give up its inalienable rights to uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes.

The Iranian envoy noted that in line with guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iran has always been against nuclear weapons and would keep up this policy in the future.

The Iranian diplomat emphasized that a few Western countries, particularly the US, are making efforts to transform the IAEA into “a mere UN guard to impose their interfering inspections,” a plan, he added, which has failed.