ID :
192666
Mon, 07/04/2011 - 09:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/192666
The shortlink copeid
Venezuelan Diplomat Denies Uranium Sales to Iran
TEHRAN (FNA)- Venezuelan Ambassador to Tehran David Velasquez Caraballo dismissed western media allegations that Caracas has agreed to export uranium supplies to Iran.
Caraballo made the remarks in a press conference here in Tehran on Sunday on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Venezuela's independence.
Asked if Tehran and Caracas have discussed supply of Venezuela's uranium ore to Iran in the two countries' Joint Economic Commission, he said, "Not at all, no such issue has ever been discussed."
"Venezuela only has uranium reserves, but it is neither a producer nor a seller of uranium," he added.
Western media outlets earlier quoted Zionist regime officials as alleging that Venezuela and Bolivia were supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program.
The AP released an allegedly secret Israeli government report in May 2009, as saying, "There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program."
"Bolivia also supplies uranium to Iran," the Israeli Foreign Ministry document stated, referring to previous Israeli intelligence conclusions.
The report did not say where the uranium was from.
Yet, an analysis published in December by the US and West-backed Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that Venezuela is not mining its own estimated 50,000 tons of untapped uranium reserves.
Iran itself has huge uranium reserves, which it now is using to produce fuel for its power plants and research reactors.
Western media outlets and governments often raise unfounded allegations against Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
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.
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.
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.
Caraballo made the remarks in a press conference here in Tehran on Sunday on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Venezuela's independence.
Asked if Tehran and Caracas have discussed supply of Venezuela's uranium ore to Iran in the two countries' Joint Economic Commission, he said, "Not at all, no such issue has ever been discussed."
"Venezuela only has uranium reserves, but it is neither a producer nor a seller of uranium," he added.
Western media outlets earlier quoted Zionist regime officials as alleging that Venezuela and Bolivia were supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program.
The AP released an allegedly secret Israeli government report in May 2009, as saying, "There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program."
"Bolivia also supplies uranium to Iran," the Israeli Foreign Ministry document stated, referring to previous Israeli intelligence conclusions.
The report did not say where the uranium was from.
Yet, an analysis published in December by the US and West-backed Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that Venezuela is not mining its own estimated 50,000 tons of untapped uranium reserves.
Iran itself has huge uranium reserves, which it now is using to produce fuel for its power plants and research reactors.
Western media outlets and governments often raise unfounded allegations against Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
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.
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.
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.
