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Iran said it was confident Friday that it would escape censure by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) next month, despite renewed criticism of its nuclear programme in Washington. "We are certain that there will be no condemnation of Iran during the next meeting because we are cooperating and respecting our commitments in the most clear and transparent way," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said. "There is no reason to be worried about the fate of the dossier," he told the official IRNA news agency. Iran expressed similar confidence before the IAEA board's last meeting in March. But that did not stop the watchdog's governors issuing a resolution condemning the Islamic authorities here for failing to report crucial technologies such as designs for sophisticated centrifuges that can produce weapons-grade uranium. As the clock ticks away to the June meeting, the Islamic republic's critics in the United States have stepped up criticism of a nuclear programme which they say can have no legitimate civil purpose in a gas-rich country like Iran. The US House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday accusing Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme and systematically trying to hide it. Despite Iran's assurances to the contrary to the IAEA, "it is abundantly clear that Iran remains committed to a nuclear weapons programme," said the resolution passed by a 376 to three vote. Speaking in Paris Thursday, IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran was "moving in the right direction". "But Iran also has to understand that the world is not going to wait forever for them to come clean," the IAEA chief told French MPs. "There is also the credibility of the verification, and people are getting a bit impatient." A formal condemnation from the IAEA board of governors could see Iran's file referred to the UN Security Council. Iran wants its file taken off the top of the board's agenda. Diplomats say such a move is unlikely. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
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