Iran warns of nuclear weapons threat to humanity
Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) has said that the continued existence of nuclear weapons
across the world is a threat to humanity.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh has criticized the U.S., Great Britain, and
other Western countries for conducting nuclear tests and
transferring nuclear arms and technology to non-NPT member states,
Iranian media reported.
Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency are set to hold
talks over Tehran's nuclear energy programs next month.
The Iranian ambassador to the agency says the two sides will meet
at the offices of Iran's mission to the IAEA in the Austrian
capital, Vienna on May 15.
The IAEA's delegation will be headed by Herman Nackaerts, the head
of the department of safeguards at the atomic agency.
The upcoming negotiations are expected to be held at a technical
level.
Iran and the IAEA have already met for nine rounds of talks since
late 2011. Their last meeting was held in the Iranian capital
Tehran in mid-February.
The IAEA, whose mission is to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons, has been trying to negotiate a so-called structured
approach with Iran giving the inspectors access to sites, officials
and documents for their long-stalled inquiry.
World powers are monitoring the IAEA-Iran talks for any signs as to
whether Tehran, facing intensifying sanctions pressure, may be
prepared to finally start tackling mounting international concerns
about its nuclear activity.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a
nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic
has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop
nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches
instead.