In an exclusive interview with Austria Press Agency (APA) on Wednesday, Tajik said that Tehran maintains enough transparency over its civilian nuclear activities, and is ready to cooperate with the West over its atomic program.
He further called on the West to recognize Iran’s right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“The only practical solution to the impasse over Tehran’s nuclear case is diplomacy,” Tajik pointed out.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran argues that as a signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
The Iranian ambassador also lashed out at the Western media hype over the potential closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz by Iran, stressing that the West keeps creating a hype over the issue as long as the negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) continue.
The remarks come as the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Naval Force has said that Iran will not block the Strait of Hormuz as long as it is able to use the waterway itself.
“As long as Iran can use the Strait of Hormuz, others are free to pass through it,” Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri stated in the Persian Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas on July 23.
“However, this does not mean that we will stop exercising wise control over the strait.”
MP/HJL/IS
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