NAM backs upcoming round of Iran-IAEA talks

12 September 2013 | 19:56 Code : 1921299 Latest Headlines

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has voiced support for the upcoming round of talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stressing diplomacy is the sole way to settle the West’s dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.

In a statement read out at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday by Reza Najafi, Iran’s new ambassador to the agency, the NAM supported continued talks between Tehran and the UN nuclear supervisory body in a bid to reach a final agreement between the two sides.

The NAM stresses its stance that diplomacy and negotiations are the only way to settle the dispute over Iran’s civilian nuclear work, the statement added, urging all IAEA member states to contribute to the process.

It also emphasized the basic and inalienable rights of all countries to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes within the framework of their legal obligations and without any discrimination. In this regard, no obstacles should impede or limit the countries’ rights to develop peaceful nuclear energy, it added.

A new round of talks is scheduled to be held between Tehran and the IAEA in the Austrian capital of Vienna on September 27.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and European Union using the claim as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, stressing that as a committed member of the IAEA and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

During the course of numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the IAEA, no evidence has ever been found showing that the Iranian nuclear energy program has been diverted toward non-civilian purposes.