Russia backs Iran’s October 31 deadline
Russia has urged Iran to embrace the October 31 deadline set by the UN nuclear agency resolution and demonstrate it has no intention of developing atomic weapons.
The 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution on Friday demanding Iran open its doors to full inspections.
Japan, Britain, France and Germany have all backed the resolution that demands that Tehran end its evasive strategy and fully comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The IAEA insists Iran must “suspend all further uranium enrichment activities.”
Iran is suspected of purifying uranium for use in nuclear weapons, according to the IAEA, after an investigation found traces of weapons-grade highly-enriched uranium at an enrichment facility at Natanz.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for domestic electricity use only. The traces of enriched uranium were derived from “contaminated” equipment bought from a previous owner, Iran insists, a claim strongly disputed by the IAEA.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said Friday’s resolution by the board of governors of the IAEA was not an “ultimatum” but “a serious and respectful call by the agency for cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.”
He added it was is “in the interest of Iran to remove these questions and thus confirm the peaceful character of its nuclear programs.”
But Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the IAEA resolution was “immature” and “politically motivated.”
The hardline Jomhuri Eslami newspaper said Iran “should not pay any attention to the US, the Europeans and international organisations and accept that the right path is the one that the North Koreans have chosen.”
Iran, pre-war Iraq and North Korea all inhabit on US President Bush’s “axis of evil.”
