Iran says the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report released in February revealed that Iran’s nuclear program is on a peaceful track.
ISNA reports that Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s representative to the IAEA, said on Friday February 22: “The main message of this report after 10 years of inspection of all Iranian nuclear activities and material is that there is no evidence of any deviation toward military objectives.”
“The report also indicates that uranium enrichment is progressing without any difficulty under the complete supervision of the agency,” Soltanieh added.
The report was received by foreign media with more reservation. Reuters reports that the report indicates that “Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant… a defiant step that will worry Western powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week.”
The report adds that Iran has installed 189 centrifuges known as IR-2m and has resumed high-level uranium enrichment for making nuclear fuel.
The U.S. has reacted to the new installation, calling it “another provocative step”, while the British Foreign Office has described it as being of “serious concern.”
Ali Asghar Soltanieh told ISNA, however, that the report shows the peaceful use of enrichment, such as using the Tehran research reactor for the production of radioactive isotopes for hospitals.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu took a different view of the report, saying Iran is rapidly advancing toward the “red line.”
