Mohammad Khazaee made the remarks during a speech before the 67th Session of the General Assembly on Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency at the UN Headquarters in New York on Monday.
Following is the text of Khazaee’s speech:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Mr. President,
Nuclear science is indeed among the greatest achievements of humanity and therefore should be used to serve the well-being of all nations.
Given the numerous peaceful applications of nuclear technology as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and climatically benign source of energy, it has gained a prominent position in the economic life and advancement of nations and, with no doubt, demand for development and use of nuclear energy and technology will continue to grow in future.
The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the inalienable right to develop research, production, and uses of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination, including the right of each state party to develop, for peaceful purposes, a full national nuclear fuel cycle, as the very foundation and one of the most important pillars of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
While attaching great importance to the full, effective, balanced, simultaneous, non-selective, and non-discriminatory implementation of all provisions of the NPT, we strongly stress that exercising the inalienable right to nuclear science, energy, and technology for peaceful purposes, which is also inherited in the sovereignty of states parties, can never be suspended or restricted, by any organ, under any circumstances or pretexts whatsoever.
According to Article 4 of the NPT, not only nothing in the treaty shall be interpreted as affecting this inalienable right, but all the parties have a firm legal obligation “to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”
Furthermore, in this context, we underline the importance of Article 3 of the NPT, according to which even the required safeguards “shall be implemented in a manner designed to comply with Article 4 of this treaty, and to avoid hampering the economic or technological development of the parties or international cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, including the international exchange of nuclear material and equipment for the processing, use, or production of nuclear material for peaceful purposes.”
My delegation also would like to emphasize that according to Articles 2 and 3 of the IAEA Statute, “The agency shall seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity throughout the world”, “To foster the exchange of scientific and technical information on peaceful uses of atomic energy” and to “encourage and assist research on, and development and practical application of, atomic energy for peaceful uses throughout the world; and, if requested to do so, to act as an intermediary for the purposes of securing the performance of services or the supplying of materials, equipment, or facilities by one member of the agency for another; and to perform any operation or service useful in research on, or development or practical application of, atomic energy for peaceful purposes.”
Accordingly, we underline the prime responsibility of the agency to assist member states and the importance of its other statutory functions. In this connection, we stress the need for strict observance, by the IAEA, of the principles of impartiality and professionalism, and along with the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement, “strongly reject any politically motivated attempts by any state to politicize the work of the IAEA, including its technical cooperation program”, and call for putting an end to any interference in the agency’s activities, especially its verification process, as such acts could jeopardize the authority, efficiency, and credibility of the IAEA and endanger the credibility of the NPT and the inalienable right of its parties to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination.
Unfortunately, the application of a discriminatory, selective, highly restrictive, and politically motivated approach in nuclear cooperation by developed states parties to the NPT, as the main suppliers of nuclear high-tech, has given rise to this impression that being an NPT party is not a privilege, because rather than facilitating, it impedes nuclear cooperation.
In this connection, it is a source of grave concern that those who have chosen not to accede to the NPT, not only are not subject to any pressure to do so, but are also encouraged and generously rewarded in different ways. A living example is the well-documented assistance and cooperation provided by certain western countries - in particular the United States and the two nuclear-weapon states members of the European Union, the United Kingdom and France - to the Israeli regime, which, in addition to having an unsafeguarded nuclear program, possesses one of the world’s largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Such measures, of course, run counter to the letter and spirit of the NPT and accordingly are clear cases of non-compliance with the explicit legal obligations under this treaty. With no doubt, these policies would severely undermine the universality, relevance, integrity, and credibility of the NPT.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, while being extremely proud (of) exercising its inalienable right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, is also fully committed to its legal obligations, and its nuclear activities are, and have always been, exclusively for peaceful purposes. Despite all external political pressures on the IAEA, it has repeatedly concluded that “declared nuclear material in Iran remained in peaceful activities.” In this regard, it is worth noting that this is exactly the same conclusion that the IAEA Secretariat has made for 51 states with additional protocols in force, as well as for 61 states without additional protocols in force.
Finally, in regard to the so-called “alleged studies” on Iran’s nuclear program referred to in the IAEA report, I would like to point out that they are some forged reports and view graphs which are not credible and that is why the agency is not allowed to make it available to Iran. As almost all of that information has been provided by the Israeli regime and its big patron, one may easily conclude that such information is as credible as the childish cartoon that was drawn here in this hall on September this year by the notorious Zionist regime’s prime minister.
I thank you Mr. President.
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