TEHRAN (Agencies)
Iran urged the U.N. nuclear watchdog not to be swayed by U.S. pressure in its report on the disputed Iranian atomic program due to be released on Monday, as the Islamic Republic's air force and defense units began war games aimed at testing equipment and boosting readiness.
Iran's Fars and ISNA news agencies said the air force exercise was being held in half of the Islamic Republic's 30 provinces but did not give details or say how long it would last.
The commander of Iran's aerial defense, Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani, said it was staged to practice tactics, use modern equipment and increase military readiness, Fars said.
The maneuvers take place at a time of persistent speculation about a possible U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West fears form part of a secret bid to make bombs. Tehran denies the charge.
Iranian media earlier this month said three days of maneuvers were due to begin on Sept. 8, also involving anti-aircraft defense systems; but it was not clear whether they were the same ones which instead got under way on Monday. |
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IAEA to release report Meanwhile, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was due to publish its latest report on Iran later Monday, and Tehran warned the international body against caving in to U.S. pressures.
"So what we are expecting (from) the agency ... (is) to conduct itself based on its own regulations and not to be affected by outside pressure, including U.S. pressure," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference.
"We are fully expecting the IAEA to remain independent again, to confine its activities to recognized international laws and regulations," Qashqavi said in comments broadcast and translated by the state-run English satellite channel Press TV.
The IAEA said in May Iran seemed to be withholding information needed to explain intelligence allegations that it had fused projects to process uranium, test high explosives and modify a missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.
Tehran has dismissed the mainly U.S. intelligence on "weaponization" research as fabricated or irrelevant. Iran says it has been cooperating with the agency within IAEA rules.
Diplomats have said an inquiry by the Vienna-based agency into whether Tehran covertly researched how to assemble an atom bomb appeared to have stalled.
Tehran says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive to generate electricity and has refused to halt sensitive work. |
