Iran not to turn back in its nuclear program

Senior Iranian lawmaker Kazem Jalali said that there would be no turning back in Iran's " peaceful" nuclear program, local daily Tehran Times reported on Saturday. The remarks of Jalali, the rapporteur of Iran's Majlis ( parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, came after the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted Friday a resolution on Iran's disputed nuclear program. The IAEA resolution calls for Iran to engage "seriously and without preconditions" in talks aimed at restoring international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program. Friday's meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors actually provided a good opportunity for the international body to correct its previous mistakes and promote better interactions between Iran and the agency, said Jalali. However, the anti-Iran resolution once again proved that the IAEA is being controlled by the Western powers. The resolution " sullied the IAEA's image even more," he was quoted as saying. Iran is now in serious doubt about the legitimacy of a number of international organizations, most notably the IAEA, said the Iranian lawmaker. There is nothing new in Friday's resolution and the Iranian nation will never pay any attention to such "unfounded allegations " meant to undermine the country's peaceful nuclear energy program, Jalali said, adding that "there is no turning back." Also, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Friday that the resolution was "not legally binding" because it was based on the IAEA's report, which he criticized as " unprofessional, biased, illegal and politically-motivated." On Friday, the resolution was proposed by the six international mediators on the Iranian nuclear issue, including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, and adopted by a majority at the closing of the two-day IAEA board meeting. Contrary to some analysts' speculations, the resolution contained no recommendation for new sanctions, but requested the IAEA to update findings in its recent report on the Iranian nuclear issue in a new report for the board meeting scheduled for March, 2012.