国际英语新闻:Iran denies nuclear activity at Parchin military site

TEHRAN, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoon Abbasi rejected on Wednesday the claims that Iran carries out nuclear activities at the country 's Parchin military site.

Abbasi said that no nuclear activity has been carried out at Iran's Parchin military site so far, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Asked about the request by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the Parchin site, Abbasi said that his organization is duty bound to show only sites under the IAEA supervision, according to IRNA.

"We will just show the locations that the AEOI has announced and are under the supervision of the IAEA, unless the (Iranian) officials decide otherwise," IRAN quoted him as saying.

A confidential report of the UN nuclear watchdog said Friday that the Islamic republic has sped up the production of high-grade enriched uranium over the past few months, which raised concerns about the possible weapon-grade dimension of Iran's nuclear program.

The report also said that Iran failed to cooperate with the IAEA high-ranking delegation who visited Tehran twice recently.

IAEA Director Yukiya Amano said last week that no agreement was reached with Iran over its nuclear issue during the recent visit of the agency's team to Tehran. He made the remarks while a senior IAEA expert team was returning from Iran after the two-day second round of talks with Iranian officials. The meeting followed previous talks held in late January.

"Intensive efforts were made to reach agreement on a document facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran's nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions," Amano said in an statement, adding "Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document."

"During both the first and second meetings, the agency's team requested access to the military site at Parchin, but Iran did not grant the permission," according to the statement.

Amano called Iran's refusal to permit the visit to Parchin as " disappointing," saying the IAEA believes Parchin is where Iran's suspicious nuclear activities are carried out.

Based on an IAEA report released in November 2011, the board of the UN nuclear watchdog adopted a resolution on Iran's nuclear project, calling for intensified dialogue between the agency and Tehran to find solutions to outstanding issues.

The IAEA report, which alleged that Iran has engaged in nuclear bomb-related activities, was rejected by Tehran, which called the report "imbalanced, non-professional and politically-motivated."

On Wednesday, the reports quoted Western diplomats as saying that the IAEA has "indications" received from satellite images that the Islamic republic was doing some possible "activities" at Parchin which made it urgent for the IAEA to request a visit to the military site.

Iran's permanent representative to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said Wednesday that the visit to the site requires a roadmap which should firstly be discussed by Iran and the IAEA officials, according to IRNA's report.

Also on Wednesday, AEOI chief Abbasi said that Iran is hopeful to launch Bushehr nuclear power plant with full capacity soon.

Abbasi expressed hope that Bushehr nuclear power plant reaches its full capacity of producing 1,000 megawatt of electricity in the Iranian calendar month of Farvardin, from March 20 to April 20, 2012.

"By good cooperation of the Russian contractor and the efforts of the AEOI staff, the Bushehr power plant achieved 750 megawatt capacity on Feb. 11 (on the occasion of the anniversary of the Islamic revolution) and after that we are busy conducting the relevant tests," he said.

On Sunday, Abbasi said that "Nuclear electricity (produced by Bushehr power plant) with 1,000 megawatt capacity will be connected to national grid early next year (according to Iranian calendar which begins on March 20, 2012)."

Diverse tests are being carried out and after the tests are proved successful the full capacity of electricity production by the power plant will be achieved, he said.

In November 2011, Abbasi announced that Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant would be launched with its full capacity in early February 2012.

On Oct. 16, 2011, AEOI announced that Bushehr nuclear power plant completed the preliminary stage of its connection to the national grid "successfully" and was temporarily disconnected in order to undergo some tests. The power plant would be reconnected soon and would reach its full capacity in November, according to AEOI's announcement.

Iran held a ceremony in September 2011 to mark the preliminary launch of the delayed Bushehr project. The construction of the plant halted when the United States imposed a hi-tech embargo on Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Russia signed a contract with Iran in 1998 to complete the construction. However, the project was postponed several times due to technical and financial challenges as well as pressure from Washington.