MOSCOW. Sept 17 (Interfax) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that the Syrian government is complying with its nonproliferation obligations, and attempts to dispute these conclusions are politically motivated, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said at a session of the IAEA Board of Governors.
"The IAEA director general's report on the implementation of the safeguards [by Syria] for 2017 says unambiguously that Damascus is fully complying with all of its obligations under the comprehensive safeguards agreement, that Syria did not violate anything, all of the declared nuclear material in that country was used strictly for the intended purpose, and there were no signs indicating that the declared nuclear material was used for undeclared purposes," Ulyanov said in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website on Monday.
"Those trying to dispute these conclusions are pursuing opportunistic political considerations and have never in many years been able to back up their attacks on Syria with any credible facts," he said.
"The findings of a journalistic investigation based on memoirs of high-ranking American officials and interviews with IAEA employees openly published in the United States are further proof of their mendacity," he said.
"It follows from these materials that since the very start, the initiators of the Syria hoax at the IAEA have been deliberately focused on provocation in discrediting nuclear nonproliferation and trying to manipulate the Agency's reputation and verification mechanisms. It's also evident that they were driven not by an aspiration for peace and security, but by a mercenary desire to settle political scores with their opponents in their own country. We're talking about actions incompatible with the IAEA Charter," Ulyanov said.
"We call on all responsible member states to strongly denounce this unlawful treatment of the nuclear nonproliferation and safeguards system," he said.