International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fully and partially
suspended some technical nuclear aid projects to Iran, a senior
diplomat at IAEA confirmed to Xinhua on Friday.
In line with the sanction's Resolution 1737, which was passed by
the UN Security Council on December 23, 2006, IAEA suspended more
than 10 nuclear aid projects to Iran this time, said the
diplomat.
Moreover, he also added, the freeze of the aids was temporary
and those presently suspended aid projects were expected to be
reviewed and approved by the 35-nation board of the IAEA on March 5
in Vienna.
In the meantime, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani also
canceled the meeting on Friday, which was planned to meet with IAEA
chief Mohamed ElBaradei during a stopover Friday in Vienna,
officials said to the local media.
Diplomats had earlier said Larijani was preparing to talk with
ElBaradei and some other European officials, focusing mainly on
technical support. However, he had to cancel his trip to Europe as
a result of a sudden illness.
The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1737 last year,
demanding Iran to "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing
activities, including research and developments on all heavy
water-related projects". However, Iranian officials rejected and
vowed to install 3,000 centrifuges by March 2007.
Therefore, due to the sanctions resolution and the pressure from
the US to reduce at least half of the aid projects, the
Vienna-based IAEA already suspended some technical aids to Iran
last month.
IAEA has more than 40 nuclear aid projects to Iran involving
other countries to bolster peaceful uses of nuclear energy in
medicine, agriculture or power generation, and about 15 aid
projects among them are specifically set for Iran.
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2007)
