European Diplomats Voice Support for Iran's Peaceful N. Program

TEHRAN (FNA)- A number of European diplomats familiar with Iran's peaceful nuclear program and the country's conditions, in an open letter, underlined their support for Tehran's right of access and use of the nuclear technology.
The letter published on Thursday by the French newspaper Le Monde, was signed by the former British, Swedish, German, Belgian, French and Italian ambassadors to Tehran.

The diplomats said they are deeply bewildered and surprised to see that the West calls Iran's uranium enrichment activities as a threat.

"However, none of the international rules and regulations, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), prohibit Iran from enriching uranium," the authors of the message reminded.

They also recalled that Iran's uranium enrichment falls under the control of the IAEA, and that the UN nuclear watchdog has never detected the country's use of nuclear materials for military purposes.

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.