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`Centre's stand must echo NAM position on Iran'

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday said the Manmohan Singh Government should be able to adopt a position in consonance with the stand taken by a ministerial delegation of the Non-Aligned Movement that provides a framework for settling the Iran issue within the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The CPI (M) Polit Bureau was referring to a communiqué issued by the delegation that comprised Foreign Affairs Ministers of Malaysia and Cuba and the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa that visited Teheran on November 11-12. It also released the text of the communiqué. The communiqué said the troika reaffirmed that nuclear weapon States should comply with their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and adopt practical steps to accomplish their unequivocal undertaking for the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament.

It said NAM has repeatedly reaffirmed the "basic and inalienable right" of all States parties to the NPT to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes without any discrimination and in conformity with their safeguards agreements in connection with the NPT. The communiqué reiterated that States' choices and decisions, including that of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear technology and its fuel cycle policies should be respected.

Welcoming the work of the Agency in clarifying issues related to Iran's peaceful programme, the troika said it believed the issue should be settled within the framework of the IAEA. It also welcomed that all the declared nuclear material in Iran had been accounted for by the IAEA and that no such material had been diverted to prohibited activities.

Welcoming the cooperation extended by the country to the IAEA to resolve the remaining issues, the communiqué noted that Iran had voluntarily taken a number of confidence-building measures, including provisional implementation of the additional protocol.

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