Tehran, February 23
A report released by the UN nuclear watchdog has vindicated Iran’s nuclear programme and left no justification for any UN Security Council sanctions, top government officials said today.

A group of hard-line students also gathered in central Tehran to celebrate what they said was “Iran’s victory” against US-led allegations that Tehran’s nuclear programme was aimed at building nuclear weapons, distributing sweets among passersby in streets.

The 11-page report by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said all major past issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear activities had been fully resolved or were “no longer outstanding at this stage,” repeatedly saying IAEA’s findings are consistent with information available to the agency and explanations provided by Iran.

The USA, however, said yesterday that the report actually strengthens the case for additional sanctions because it said Iran failed to cooperate fully with UN investigators and left key questions about its nuclear past unanswered.

The IAEA report said Iran had dismissed as “baseless” information provided by Western intelligence agencies that Iran’s alleged missile and explosives experiments are part of a nuclear weapons programme and continued to enrich uranium in defiance of UN Security Council demands.

Iranian newspapers also hailed the IAEA report today as a “big victory” for Iran. “Iran vindicated,” said a front-page headline in the hard-line daily Hezbollah. “Iran’s victory in nuclear final,” the daily Jam-e-Jam wrote.

The US-led push for harsher sanctions against Iran became more difficult at the end of last year when American intelligence agencies issued a report saying Tehran had suspended its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and had not restarted it. — AP