New York - Iran's construction of a second nuclear plant violated United Nations Security Council resolutions and Tehran should now present evidence that the plant will be for civilian use, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday. He called on Iran to be transparent with its nuclear programmes and allow inspection of the new plant at Qum by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.
"If the nuclear plant is for peaceful purposes, the burden of proof is on their side," Ban told a news conference.
Ban met last week with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at UN headquarters in New York to discuss a range of issues. But he said "gaps of understanding" remain, without disclosing what these were.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations Tuesday issued a statement confirming discussions on several important issues with Ban. It said that Ahmadinejad told Ban that "Iran's nuclear activities are, and have always been, for peaceful purposes, and, therefore, pose no threat whatsoever."
