Soltaniyeh to IRNA: Washington Confab to mislead world public opinion

Vienna, April 13, IRNA – Iran's representative and permanent ambassador to IAEA in Vienna said here Monday that the Washington Conference is being held to mislead world public opinion regarding serious threat of US A-bombs.

Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh added in an interview with IRNA correspondent in Vienna, “Although Washington Conference is focusing over the nuclear security issue the matter would not be seriously dealt with there for sure.”

He added, “There are three major issues regarding the nuclear energy one of which is related to nuclear security, referring to the point that the nuclear facilities must conduct their activities in a way to pose no radioactivity leak threats against the environment.”

Soltaniyeh said, “Therefore the nuclear facilities must improve their safety standards and the entire countries must abide by the highest related international standards.”

Soltaniyeh reiterated, “The nuclear security means the nuclear substances or facilities should not be at the disposal of the irresponsible, or terrorist individuals and that disturbances in countries’ nuclear activities should be prohibited.”

Emphasizing that nuclear security is not a matter that the United States has initiated overnight, he said, “The matter has always been among the serious concerns and activities of the agency and the Iran, too, is among the countries that has always dynamically participated in such activities, adopting the entire security and care taking activities required at nuclear centers.”

Soltaniyeh added, “The United States has merely invited a few number of countries to Washington Conference aimed at misleading the world public opinion.”

He said that on the threshold of the NPT Conference in which the countries that have no nuclear weapons, including Iran, are mobilized to condemn the United States for possession of nuclear weapons, by organizing that conference Washington intends to divert the proper path of the international nuclear disarmament movement.

He added, “Today, the main threat is in fact the existence of thousands of mounted nuclear warheads at the disposal of the United States and a few other countries that have stockpiled such deadly weapons.”

The envoy said, “Convening a selective conference such as the Washington gathering would bear no fruit of particular value, because the majority of world countries have been deprived of the right to be present there and the decisions adopted there would not be applicable at the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

He emphasized, “We believe Washington Conference is merely a political show aimed at misleading the public opinion from the serious threats posed against the international peace and security due to the existence of nuclear weapons in the United States.”

Soltaniyeh said, “Therefore, this conference is doomed to defeat as in advance, since it would definitely be deprived of the required power to put forth any hypotheses or present any applicable suggestions for the world nations, due to the absence of the majority of the world countries’ representatives at the gathering.”

Referring to the presence of Yukiya Amano’s presence at the conference, he said, “Although Amano, too, has been invited to attend the Washington Conference, keeping in mind that no stand is adopted by the member countries at the IAEA regarding that conference, and the fact that Amano would be there merely personally, he will not be able to adopt any stand on behalf of the IAEA there.”/end