Iran's President Pezeshkian pledges full support for 'peaceful' nuclear industry

Tehran, Nov 2 (IANS) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday his government is fully committed to supporting the development of the country's "peaceful" nuclear programme, according to a statement from his office.

Pezeshkian reiterated that Iran's nuclear program is intended to meet domestic needs and improve living standards, not to develop weapons.

He said Iran's nuclear activities have been the target of "negative and biased propaganda" aimed at convincing the public that nuclear energy is synonymous with atomic weapons, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The President said his administration will "strongly back the progress and expansion" of Iran's nuclear capacities, so Iran's nuclear industry can gain a bigger share of the global market.

He said Iran should accelerate the production of radiopharmaceuticals and the development of modern medical technologies, describing them as essential.

"Colonial powers are trying to prevent independent nations, including Iran, from acquiring advanced technologies," he added.

Western governments have long accused Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge, saying its nuclear programme is peaceful and focused on power generation and medical uses.

On October 28, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran remains a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and continues to abide by its safeguards agreement with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

"In fulfilling these safeguards obligations, we are maintaining interactions with the IAEA while taking into account the parliament's law, which designates the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) as the authority responsible for decisions on cooperation with the agency," Baghaei said.

Under a comprehensive safeguards agreement, the IAEA has the right and obligation to ensure that safeguards are applied to all nuclear material in the territory, jurisdiction or control of the state for the exclusive purpose of verifying that such material is not diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

Baghaei said that some aspects of Iran's engagement with the IAEA constitute "routine collaborations" aligned with national interests, citing the fuel replacement at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the oversight of the Tehran research reactor as examples.

Iran had suspended cooperation with the IAEA in June under a parliamentary law, citing the agency's failure to condemn Israeli and US attacks on its nuclear sites and concerns about the safety of its facilities and scientists.

--IANS

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