Iran's Foreign Minister rejects IAEA report

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, said on Saturday that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s upcoming report on his country’s nuclear program lacks authenticity, The Tehran Times reported.

The report, which has been termed “critical” by U.S. officials, is expected to show that Iran is inching closer to having a nuclear weapon. However, Salehi rejected this and said in a joint press conference with his Burundian counterpart, “We have no problem with the release of documents but we believe that these documents are invalid.”

He added that the IAEA had already raised such claims and that his country answered all the questions asked by the UN body. He also suggested that the claims are being made because of the influence of major powers.

The Tehran Times also reported that Salehi was asked to comment on the remarks made by Israeli President Shimon Peres on Friday, in which he suggested that an Israeli military option to stop the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons was growing nearer. According to the report, Salehi said that there is no need to respond to such baseless remarks.