Iran and Russia Alliance

Russian FM Tells Iran to Cooperate with IAEA

Lavrov calls for clarity on Teheran's nuclear program, asks Islamic Regime to behave transparently for the sake of all concerned, including Iran.

Jerusalem Post
September 7, 2010

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday called for clarity on all issues pertaining to the Iranian nuclear program.

"Clarity in all remaining issues of the Iranian nuclear program is not only necessary, but would also primarily serve the interests of Iran itself," Lavrov said.

He also called on Iran to cooperate and behave transparently with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On Monday, Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi announced that Teheran had the right to bar some UN inspectors from monitoring its disputed nuclear program.

The comments came in response to an unusually blunt warning by the International Atomic Energy Agency which expressed alarm about Iran's decision to bar some of its inspectors. The report followed Iran's recent decision to strip two inspectors of the right to monitor its nuclear activities after they reported what they said were undeclared nuclear experiments.

The semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Salehi as saying Iran asked the agency to replace the two.

The Islamic Republic says the reporting by the UN atomic watchdog was inaccurate, but the IAEA stands by the findings.

Objections by Iran to some experienced inspectors “hampers the inspection process and thereby detracts from the agency’s capability to implement effective and efficient safeguards in Iran,” the document said.

The 11-page report devoted a special section to the complaint, reflecting the importance attached to it by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano. Such a section was included in only one previous report, after Iran impeded the work of dozens of inspectors in 2006 and 2007.