RELIGIOUS MINORITIES DENOUNCE BRITAIN’S POSITION TOWARD IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Mehr News Agency, Iran
Oct 17 2005
TEHRAN, Oct. 17 (MNA) — Members of Iran’s religious minority
communities held a demonstration in front of the British embassy in
Tehran on Monday denouncing the British government’s approach toward
Iran’s nuclear program, which is currently on the top of the agenda
of the UN nuclear watchdog.
The group, which included Zoroastrians and Armenian, Chaldean,
and Assyrian Christians, issued a statement in which they condemned
both the biased attitude of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in dealing with Iran’s nuclear dossier and the fact that the
three European Union negotiating countries, and particularly Britain,
reneged on their commitments by accepting the baseless U.S. charges
against Iran’s nuclear program.
The statement added that Iran’s religious minorities have never been
indifferent toward the destiny, territorial integrity, and political,
economic, and scientific independence of Iran and will never tolerate
a situation in which the country is deprived of its inalienable rights.
The protestors also announced that they are all followers of divine
religions whose prophets invited people to promote justice, monotheism,
and prosperity for all humanity.
As an inseparable part of the Iranian nation, the religious minorities
are also responsible for the development and prosperity of their
country, they pointed out.
Gaining access to civilian nuclear expertise is the inalienable right
of all signatories of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
they added.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has proven the peaceful nature of its
nuclear activities over the past two years of sincere cooperation with
the IAEA. Therefore, any measure meant to prevent Iran from gaining
access to nuclear technology is regarded as a politically motivated
action influenced by the discriminatory attitude of certain major
powers toward Iran,” the statement read.
At the end of their statement, the Iranian religious minorities said:
1. Iran’s religious minorities believe that if the IAEA adopted an
independent approach toward Iran’s nuclear dossier, it would boost
the credibility of the agency, and therefore call on the IAEA to
ignore all political pressure in its handling of Iran’s dossier.
2. Iran’s religious minorities believe that negotiation is the best
way to close Iran’s nuclear dossier, and therefore call on Iranian
officials to continue negotiations within a framework that maintains
Iran’s inalienable rights.
3. Iranian religious minorities condemn the biased approach of
international organizations and countries toward Iran’s nuclear
dossier and regard it as nuclear apartheid.
4. Iran’s religious minorities believe that Western countries’ charges
about the human rights situation for religious minorities (in Iran)
is only a political move and regard it as a kind of interference in
Iran’s internal affairs.