TEHRAN, 17 January 2005 — Iran said yesterday it was confident that UN inspectors would disprove US allegations that it is conducting secret nuclear weapons work, and said its negotiations with the Europeans on the issue were “on a good track”. A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the previously off-limits Iranian military site of Parchin, near Tehran, on Thursday.
“They visited, they took some samples from the open area and they returned home. We know what the results are because we have no illegal activity,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. “After they study the results they can confirm our position,” he added.
The spokesman also told reporters that talks with the European Union on finding a long-term solution to international worries over Iran’s nuclear drive were going well. “The Iran-EU negotiations are continuing and are on a good track,” he said.
The two sides this week kicked off a fresh round of talks on a potentially lucrative trade pact after a deal clinched in November by the European bloc’s three most powerful members - Britain, France and Germany - for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
The trade deal forms part of a package of possible incentives Iran could earn if the talks also manage to produce “objective guarantees” the country is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment activities while the talks are in progress. The country insists it only wants to produce fuel for nuclear reactors, but there are fears the sensitive fuel cycle work could be geared towards making weapons.
Asefi said Iran would one day resume enrichment, but he held back from giving any timetable. The Europeans are pushing for Iran to accept a long-term suspension of its work on the nuclear fuel cycle, including the enrichment of uranium, to ease international alarm. In return, Europe’s three major powers are offering Iran civilian nuclear technology, including access to nuclear fuel, increased trade and help with Tehran’s regional security concerns.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities yesterday sought to play down a judicial summons handed to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, saying her legal woes were only minor and that US criticism was unfounded. Asefi said that Ebadi, who has been summoned by the Revolutionary Court, was the subject of a “private complaint” and was at the very worst facing a fine of up to 500,000 rials ($57).
Ebadi had received an order to appear before a court which handles crimes against national security to “provide some explanations” on her activities by yesterday or else be arrested. On Saturday, she said she had rejected the summons, arguing the court had not specified the charges and that the summons was “illegal”.
The United States reacted to the summons by expressing “grave concern” over the human rights situation in Iran and potential court action against Ebadi. But Asefi said “the US has the habit of interfering in issues without knowing about them.”
“The Americans, who have tried to politicize the case, will later find out about the truth and realize they have been reacting without thinking,” he added.
In another development, a United Nations official yesterday said the UN will end millions of dollars of annual assistance repatriating Afghans from Iran unless Tehran stops sending refugees home against their will.
A tripartite agreement on refugees between Iran, Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will not be renewed in March unless Iran stops forcing genuine refugees back across the border, he added.
