Ali Akbar Salehi who is in Vienna to participate in the 59th General Conference (GC) of the IAEA opening session on Monday at IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, sat in a press conference, where he announced the general ban on production, stockpile and using of weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons as one of the principles of Iran’s general policies; Salehi also emphasized upon removal of unfair sanctions against Iran. “The IAEA Statute states that the Agency has a mission to promote the peaceful applications of nuclear energy around the world, and Iran, inspired by the fatwa issued by the Leader of the Islamic Republic, will remain in the firm path toward attaining peaceful nuclear energy based on mutual respect and constructive cooperation,” Mr. Salehi told the press.
“Hence, Iran joined the historic negotiations to exercise its rights to peaceful nuclear program with President Rouhani’s election to presidency in June 2013; now, I have the honor to announce that Iran and the 5+1 have struck a deal after hectic 23 months of negotiations crystalized in July 14, 2015 JCPOA,” Salehi rejoiced to tell the press.
He pronounced the message of the deal to the world as “neither sanctions nor military threats would be of any effect on the will of the Iranians;” however, he added that it opened new horizons and was a step forward for engaged parties to end an artificially conceived and unnecessary crisis which had lasted for some length. Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi posed the question of the possibility of leak, to the outside, of Iran's confidential information of nuclear program, voicing some concerns that there would be some leaks, as legitimate preoccupation of Iranians.
Salehi urged strict adherence to the timetable, by the parties, of their obligations in JCPOA and the roadmap; “as the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken practical steps to restore trust upon itself through volunteer measures, it demonstrates its adherence to its commitments in the JCPOA; in return, we expect to see similar action by the IAEA and 5+1 in coming to a fair consensus in removing unjust sanctions,” he expressed hope, believing that such action would directly expose their good will and respecting their promises in the eyes of international community.
Salehi then turned to creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, adding that the idea was proposed for the first time in 1974 by Iran; he criticized Zionist regimes refusal to join the NPT, and the regime’s role as the greatest barrier to implementation of the treaty and a serious threat to the security of the region as well.