IRAN: Iran moved yesterday to ease fears that it might follow North Korea and quit an international treaty intended to halt the spread of nuclear arms.
Tehran, accused by Washington of secretly developing the capacity to produce nuclear weapons, also said it would go ahead with talks with the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) on a protocol permitting snap, short-notice inspections.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Mr Ali Akbar Salehi, stormed out of an IAEA board session on Friday after a tough US-backed resolution giving Tehran until October 31st to furnish full details of its nuclear plans.
At the weekend, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine published an interview with Mr Salehi in which he said Tehran could leave the IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). But the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation told delegates from the IAEA's 136 member-countries that Tehran had no intentions of withdrawing from the 1968 pact.
"Iran is fully committed to its NPT responsibilities, not only because of its contractual obligations, but also because of its religious and ethical considerations," said Mr Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who is also a vice-president.
Washington, which labelled Iran a member of an axis of evil with North Korea and pre-war Iraq, lobbied hard to get the tough IAEA resolution passed.
The US Energy Secretary, Mr Spencer Abraham, welcomed the resolution, which he said showed the international community wanted to prevent another North Korean-style crisis. "[The resolution] made it clear that the international community will not tolerate erosions of the non-proliferation regime," he said.
It sent a double warning to Pyongyang and Tehran. "It makes clear that the [North Korean] precedent is unacceptable, and the non-proliferation regime can withstand serious challenges, when member-states are prepared to take firm and necessary action," he said.
The North Korean crisis arose last October when the US said Pyongyang had admitted working on developing enriched uranium for weapons. On New Year's Eve, North Korea expelled the IAEA's inspectors and later withdrew from the NPT. The IAEA's recent discovery of bomb-grade uranium in Iran raised fears that Tehran has been secretly purifying uranium for use in an atomic weapon.