Iran President agrees to cooperation with IAEA, says no to diktat

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami confirmed the readiness of the Islamic Republic to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. He said this in Tehran on Tuesday.

At the same time, the head of Iran's executive power (according to the Iranian constitution, the head of state is the religious leader; now it is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) has called "anti-Iranian" the recent resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors. To Khatami, "the resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors is fully politicized, juridically ungrounded and we /the Iranian side/ are resolutely against its adoption." The president said that Iran is for removing the concerns of the international community over the peaceful nuclear programs of the Islamic Republic and continuation of cooperation with the IAEA on this problem.

"Meanwhile, Tehran expects from friendly countries to prevent some states, posing a permanent threat to the international community, from using in their interests the human rights problem in a linkage with Iran-IAEA cooperation," Khatami said.

The Islamic Republic is studying the expediency of signing an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with account for the national interests, said the president of Iran.