Tehran, October 03: Iraninan President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday defended Tehran’s “honesty” in disclosing the building of a new nuclear plant, in his first comments on Iran’s atomic work since high-profile talks in Geneva.
“Iran’s actions are based on honesty. We did not have any secret (nuclear) work because we gave information (about the new plant) ahead of time” to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony in Tehran.
“But the Western media keep following the policy that we are keeping secrets. They repeat it so much, until this campaign of lies seeps into people’s heads.”
The IAEA revealed earlier this month that Iran had informed it on September 21 that Tehran was building a second uranium enrichment plant. The news triggered global outrage against Tehran, led by US President Barack Obama.
Prior to the Geneva talks between Iran and world powers on Thursday, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran was “on the wrong side of the law” by not declaring its new site earlier.
At the Geneva talks, the two sides agreed that Tehran will offer UN inspectors access to the new nuclear site under construction near the holy city of Qom in central Iran.
–Agencies