Iran calls the conclusions of the IAEA report "unfounded" and accuses the U.S. of intimidation

Western countries are conducting an "illegal and disturbing" international cooperation policy of intimidation against other states. This was announced today by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, at the opening of expert meetings in Tehran as a part of the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It will run until August 31, according to ITAR-TASS. "We believe that the adoption of a battered policy, based on intimidation and humiliation, is not just unfair and unreasonable: such actions weaken international cooperation aimed at achieving the objectives of the UN Charter," he said. "No doubt, those who are planning this policy will soon realize that they are doomed to failure."
The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic urged the participants to take and integrated approach in order to maximize the application of the principles of the UN Charter on the basis of "friendly and peaceful relations, mutual respect, common and equal interests" of all states. "The United Nations must reform the internal structure and fulfil its role, including the establishment of peace and security," he said.

Tehran, the minister says, is adamantly against any outside interference in the affairs of states, believing that domestic problems should be resolved through national dialogue. "This is the only way to peacefully resolve internal conflicts," he said.

Salehi also called on members of the NAM to oppose the international sanctions imposed on Iran for its nuclear program, which, as noted by the Foreign Minister, is "entirely peaceful." "The NAM should seriously oppose unilateral sanctions by some countries on a number of non-aligned states," he stresses.

Referring to the question of Palestine, the Foreign Minister expressed confidence that it can be resolved only after "Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories." "The tragedy of Palestine is a major cause of conflict in the region," Salehi says, adding that Israel is" the greatest threat to regional security."  "We, as the main part of the international community, want a just policy in order to determine the fate of the Palestinians, and oppose the illegal actions of the Zionist regime."

For two days the Iranian capital will host consultations at the level of experts, who will develop a program for the NAM summit. The next meeting will be held on August 27-28 at the level of foreign ministers, and on August 29-30 there will be meetings of the heads of state and government. In total, Iran expects more than 50 presidents, kings and prime ministers, including the new head of Egypt, Mohammed Mursi.

The Egyptian leader's visit to Iran will be the first such visit in more than three decades and is considered by Iranian officials as the first major step toward restoring full relations between the two countries, which were broken off in 1979 after the Islamic revolution in Iran and Egypt, and toward providing asylum to the deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also invited to the meeting. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is officially part of the NAM, their participation in the summit is not expected. Tehran expects the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, too, who, despite active opposition from Washington and its allies, will join the meetings of the Movement on Wednesday.

As "Vestnik Kavkaza" reported earlier, Armenia will also be represented at the summit. President Serzh Sargsyan will arrive in Tehran to participate in the meetings of the organization. "Although Armenia has observer status in the Non-Aligned Movement, the country  will be represented at the Tehran forum by the President of the republic," the Armenian Ambassador to Iran, Grigor Arakelyan, says. Among the key themes of the summit will be the Iranian nuclear
program, issues of human rights and the conflict in Syria. As reported earlier, the official representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, will present a comprehensive plan for a peaceful settlement of the situation in Syria. "Our proposal is acceptable, reasonable, rational and comprehensive," he says. Also, as expected, the meeting will discuss the Iraqi, Palestinian and Afghan problems, as well as economic and social development in Africa and Latin America.

In addition, today the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, has stated that Iran has no problem with the investigation conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic. However, according to Abbasi, the IAEA should have strong arguments for their claims, Trend reports with reference to the agency IRNA.

In November last year, the Secretary-General of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, released a report which spoke of possible nuclear tests at the Parchin military base. According to the report, Iran has probably  tested a neutron detonator, which is used in nuclear bombs.

Iran has denied the charges, but so far has not allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the Parchin base. Abbasi said that the IAEA inspectors can travel to Iran whenever they want. "Upon providing convincing arguments, the IAEA may within two hours request from the Iranian side permission to launch an investigation, and we'll allow them to visit the nuclear facilities," he says.

The head of the IAEA says that Iran is demolishing buildings at Parchin to "cover up" the traces of nuclear tests. According to Amano, this is evidenced by satellite photographs taken some time ago.

According to Abbas, Iran believes that the latest annual Amano's report of  64 points is 50% "unreasonable and useless."