Iranian envoy to India rules out halt to Iran's nuclear enrichment program

The Iranian ambassador to India has ruled out any halt to Iran's nuclear enrichment program and called on New Delhi to look at Iran's nuclear policy " independently", reported local daily The Times of India Wednesday. The newspaper quoted Iranian ambassador to India, S. Mehdi Nabizadeh, as saying that contrary to claims by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has proposed to the UN nuclear watchdog that a team be sent to Tehran to discuss the issue. "Any such report which is based on sources in countries other than Iran, or sources other than IAEA experts, cannot be reliable. We believe that if countries like India keep their independence, they will support Iran's position," he was quoted as saying. India last Friday voted in favor of an IAEA resolution raising concerns about Iran's alleged attempts to manufacture nuclear weapons. "As for IAEA sending a team to Iran, it was actually Iran which first came up with this proposal and not the other way round. Even in the past, we have answered all questions raised by IAEA despite the fact that the agency has, instead of doing it duty, mixed politics into it under pressure from the U.S.," said the Iranian envoy.