Ahmadinejad plays down UN concern over Iran nuke issue

Tehran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog had no legal right to consider material alleging Iran wanted the atom bomb, Press TV reported here on Thursday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its report on Monday that Iranian stone-walling had brought to a standstill an agency inquiry to resolve whether Tehran had covertly researched ways to make a nuclear bomb.

But Press TV said Ahmadinejad commented in an interview that the IAEA report had confirmed the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme and that Tehran had cooperated with the Vienna-based UN agency with "full transparency".

Iran says its nuclear programme is for generating electricity, rejecting Western accusations that it is seeking to build weapons.

"President Ahmadinejad said the report confirms Iran's peaceful drive for nuclear energy," Press TV said, adding it would give more details of the interview later.

"He said the report had no negative points about Iran's nuclear programme, other than the alleged studies which have no legal basis and are beyond the jurisdiction of the UN nuclear watchdog," the English-language television channel said in its report.

Seeking clarifications

The IAEA wants Iran to clarify intelligence material pointing to links between Iranian projects to process uranium, test high explosives and modify the cone of its long-distance Shahab-3 missile in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly denied the allegations, but the IAEA says Iran must substantiate its position by granting access to sites, documents and relevant officials for interviews.

The US, Britain and France this week vowed to seek harsher sanctions on Tehran over its defiance of UN demands for full disclosure and a suspension of its uranium enrichment programme.

'Quite worried'

Meanwhile, the European Union's (EU) foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, says he believes Russia and China are "quite worried" about a new IAEA report.

Solana says the report presented on Monday by the UN nuclear watchdog "isn't good for Iran."

He stopped short of saying that there was support for France's push for more UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran.

Solana says the UN General Assembly will "analyse" the situation.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a Paris meeting of EU foreign ministers with their counterparts from five central Asian nations.

Western nations fear Iran's programme masks intentions to build bombs. Iran insists its plan is to generate electricity.

He said the report had no negative points about Iran's nuclear programme, other than the alleged studies which have no legal basis.