Iran not to compromise right to peaceful nuclear energy

Iranian ambassador in Pakistan Mashallah Shakeri on Thursday said that Islamic Republic of Iran will not compromise its undeniable right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. Addressing a gathering organized by National Defence University (NDU), the Iranian envoy said that Iran has already allowed more than 5,000 man-day inspections of its nuclear installations by the International Atomic Energy Agency which has been the most unprecedented. “However, there has not been so far observed any nuclear material having military objectives in our country,” he added. Shakeri said that Iran has repeatedly declared that Its objectives relate to peaceful spheres such as pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural and power generation fields, and Iran intends to produce up to 20,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear energy. He said that Iran has announced its expectations based on the fact that any sort of interaction with IAEA must be within the defined framework. The Iranian ambassador said that despite the efforts of the hegemonic and hostile countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran, with relying on three principles of dignity, wisdom and expediency, has taken forward its justice-based foreign policy on the international scene, and nearly nullified the efforts of the enemies to isolate Iran by imposing sanctions. “Best example of this claim is the successful convening of three international conferences on combating terrorism, Islamic awakening, and Palestine which were held with the attendance of scores of political, religious and intellectual officials and personalities in Tehran,” said Shakeri. He said Iran, in view of the international sanctions imposed on it, and due to reliance on the academic capability and the energy of its youth, has achieved amazing progress and successes in various socio-economic, university-level scientific, industrial and military spheres. Referring to Iran’s foreign policy, the ambassador said the foreign policy of Iran has been formulated on three main axes; Negation of the colonial methods of the East and the West, reliance on the aspirations and principles of Islamic ideology which are called 'the Islamic Republic'. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has constantly during the past 30 years been and is willing to expand relations with all countries of the world except the Zionist regime, on the basis of mutual respect and preservation of the interests of the two sides,” he said. “Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan enjoy prominent characteristics. Cultural, historical and religious proximity has brought about further closeness between the two countries, namely Iran and Pakistan,” he said. “Had there been no pressure from the West and America in case of natural gas and electricity projects, Pakistan today could not have witnessed extraordinary lack of energy,” he added. The Iranian envoy said that the Islamic Republic of Iran, ranging from the highest level of authorities, that is, the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to different strata of various people, has constantly come to the help of the people of Pakistan during crises and exigencies. “Iran has constantly announced its readiness to provide electricity, upto 1,000 megawatts, and has already implemented the projects on completion of a 70 megawatt transmission line to the border regions of Balochistan Province,” said Iranian envoy. The ambassador observed that this project will play a major role in flourishing the industries in Pakistan, and in alleviating the problems faced by the people of this country. “We believe that presence of foreign troops not only cannot resolve problems and remove the obstacles on the way of development and progress, but this act, in itself, is also a factor for insecurity and underdevelopment,” he said.