Disarmament Documentation

IAEA Special Board of Governors Meeting, Message from Iran Secretary of Supreme Security Council Dr Larijani, February 2, 2006

Text of a message from H.E. Dr. Larijani, the Secretary of Supreme Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Director General of the IAEA dated February 2, 2006.

See also:

Respectfully, regarding the emergency meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, I find it necessary to draw your attention to the following points:

1. The mere fact that some members of the Board - who have no privilege over the others pre- impose certain decisions on the board, goes against the legal stance and authority of the Board, and the Director General is expected to reflect on this matter.

2. Furthermore, these developments have revealed the political pressures over the Board and will jeopardise the credibility of its decisions.

3. The Board decision to report the issue to the Security Council has no legal and technical basis. Nothing particular has lately happened with regard to the inspections and no change has taken place in relations to the factual circumstances. The Iranian cooperation with the Agency has increased and remaining ambiguities have been resolved.

4. The resumption of R&D activities after two and a half years of suspension cannot provide the ground for taking harsh decisions by the Board and reporting the issue to the Security Council. Those activities are exclusively peaceful and completely within the IAEA legal framework and their suspension was decided by Iran voluntarily and provisionally.

5. Although your Excellency and other authorities and experts in the Agency are well aware, but just for the record once again I reiterate that nuclear R&D programs and activities have the following characteristics:

They have clear definitions and technical scope that can be recorded with the cooperation of the IAEA experts.
They are exclusively in the boundary of peaceful activities and in the framework of the rights of the Member States to the Agency.
They have are being planned and conducted only for the purpose of gaining the know - how for peaceful nuclear activities.
They will be conducted under the surveillance of the Agency.
They will be conducted within a specific timing and plan.

6. I reiterate that as you and the Agency experts confirmed, the Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to the NPT and acts within the framework of the Treaty. It implemented the Additional Protocol voluntarily. In the inspections voluntarily cooperated beyond its obligations and for more than 2 and a half years has suspended its legal and rightful activities. All these initiatives were based on the assumption that the Islamic Republic of Iran had confidence in the European interlocutors and tried to create and strengthen the mutual confidence.

7. In this context, I am afraid to warn that if the interlocutors of Iran want to put pressure on the Board to report the issue to the UN Security Council and this pressures be affective, and the Council would be involved in any way with the Iranian peaceful nuclear activities, it would be the final blow to the confidence of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will totally destroy it. In such a case, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is logically and legally bound by the law passed by the parliament would have no other choice but to suspend all the voluntary measures and extra cooperation with the Agency which have so far made. In that case the Agency's monitoring would extensively be limited and all the peaceful nuclear activities being under voluntary suspension would be resumed without any restriction.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not interested in such a situation and considers it as a set back in the resolution of the nuclear issue and believes it as a loss for all the parties including the IAEA. Therefore I request you as the Director General of the IAEA to use all your good offices and capabilities to prevent initiations of such a harmful process.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to believe that negotiation is the most appropriate way to help the Agency in resolving the nuclear issue of Iran. It is convicted that if negotiations with the EU3/ EU and other parties continued constructively and seriously, and free from any kind of threat and pressure, besides contributing to the Agency's ability to resolve the issues will help to reach an ultimate solution for the nuclear issue in a reasonable time.

10. The Islamic Republic of Iran hopes that in an amicable environment and free from any kind of threat and pressure an arrangement can be achieved with other parties for improving the confidence and remove ambiguities that its nuclear activities remain peaceful.

11. The Islamic Republic of Iran is confident that impartial and technical reporting by the Agency of the cooperation and progress made, would augment the confidence of the Member States that there is still remarkable opportunities and capacities for a fair resolution of the present dispute and there is no necessity for blocking that path and steering to an uneasy and dangerous course.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency, http://www.iaea.org.

Back to the Top of the Page