The United Arab Emirates urged Iran on Friday to provide reassurances on the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme after the International Atomic Energy Agency denounced Tehran's lack of cooperation.

"There are concerns," said the permanent representative of the UAE to the IAEA, Hamad Al Kaabi.

In response to an AFP question during a press conference on the Emirates' own nuclear programme, he called on Iran to "closely cooperate with the IAEA" and "provide reassurances to regional and international countries regarding the peacefulness of its nuclear programme".

The UAE has the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world.

It lies just across the Gulf from Iran which has a nuclear power plant of its own outside the coastal city of Bushehr, as well as a controversial uranium enrichment programme.

Kaabi's statements come after Iran disconnected some IAEA cameras monitoring its nuclear sites this month, shortly after the US and its European allies pushed through a resolution at the UN agency denouncing Tehran's lack of cooperation.

A 2015 deal with world powers gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for guarantees that it could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something Tehran has always denied wanting to do.

The United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, before imposing biting sanctions on the Islamic republic. Iran in turn began reneging on its own commitments.

US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to again embrace the deal so long as Iran also respects its own pledges under it.

Washington's Secretary of State Antony Blinken in April said the "breakout time" for Iran to develop a nuclear bomb, if it so chooses, is "down to a matter of weeks" after the deal had pushed it beyond a year.

The UAE has repeatedly said its nuclear ambitions are for "peaceful purposes" and has ruled out developing any enrichment programme or nuclear reprocessing technologies.

It has also moved to dispel any concerns over safety, underlining that the plant has welcomed more than 40 international reviews and inspection missions.

Related Links
Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Finnish nuclear reactor OL3 delayed again to December
Helsinki (AFP) June 15, 2022
The start of energy production at Finland's long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor has been postponed from September to December due to repair work, operator TVO said Wednesday. The French-developed European Pressurised Reactor model was designed to relaunch nuclear power in Europe after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, and was touted as offering higher power and better safety. But EPR projects in Finland, France and the UK have been plagued by delays and cost overruns. The reactor built by ... read more