Iran's ambassador to the IAEA says there is no technical or legal justification for Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities. Even if there were countries that would provide Iran with power plants and nuclear fuel, we would not be able to trust that they would fully meet their commitment, Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh told Press TV in an exclusive interview.
His remarks came after Western media outlets misquoted him as saying that Iran would consider suspending uranium enrichment if it would receive firm guarantees of nuclear fuel delivery to the country. "A leading Iranian nuclear envoy on Thursday suggested the country could reconsider its uranium enrichment program if it gets cast-iron guarantees of regular international fuel supplies for its nuclear power plants," AFP reported, citing Soltaniyeh as saying after attending a conference in Brussels.
The Iranian official responded, however, in a telephone interview with Press TV, saying that Western countries have not fulfilled their previous promises and agreements and have violated their contractual obligations.
"I reject whatever is reflected otherwise," he continued.
When I was asked about how Tehran would respond if various countries promise to provide guarantees, I repeated two or three times (at the conference in Brussels) that I was talking about the lack of internationally negotiated consensus over supply assurance, he explained.
Former director general of the UN nuclear watchdog Hans Blix, who also attended the conference, reportedly told the Iranian nuclear envoy that Iran has every right to doubt Western guarantees.
According to Soltaniyeh, Blix was well aware that America had failed to fulfill a previous contractual obligation toward Iran by rejecting to provide the country with reactor fuel or compensation.
"Hans Blix said this is further indication that Iran has the right not to trust the West," Soltaniyeh said.
Western powers accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of seeking nuclear weaponry.