United Nations watchdog passed on our N-secrets to Zionists, says Iran lawmaker

A senior Iranian lawmaker on Sunday accused the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog of passing confidential information about Iran's nuclear activities to Israel.

In the latest sign of strained relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament's presiding board, said IAEA chief Yukiya Amano would be to blame if Iran reduced its ties with the body. "Amano's repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli officials' views about Iran's nuclear activities indicates that Iran's nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist regime (Israel) and other enemies of the Islamic Republic," Jahangirzadeh was quoted as saying by Iran's English-language Press TV.

"If the agency's actions lead to Iran cutting cooperation with this international body, all responsibility will be with the IAEA director general," said Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee. The IAEA was not immediately available to comment on his allegation.

Last week, Iranian nuclear energy chief Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said "terrorists" might have infiltrated the Vienna-based agency. He suggested the IAEA included too much sensitive information about Iran's nuclear programme in its reports that he said could be used by saboteurs. Western diplomats dismissed his allegations as an attempt to distract attention away from the agency's bid to gain access to a site in Iran it suspects was used for nuclear weapons research, something Tehran denies.

Iran blames Israel and its Western allies for the assassination of nuclear scientists in Iran, including an unsuccessful attempt on Abbasi-Davani in November 2010. It also blames those countries for computer viruses that appeared designed to damage its nuclear machinery. The 35-nation board of the agency censured Iran earlier this month for defying international demands to curb uranium enrichment and failing to address mounting disquiet about its suspected research into atomic bombs.

The resolution prompted Iran's Parliament Speaker, Ali Larijani, to cast doubt on the benefit of Iran's membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Tehran Times reported. The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, told a news conference last week that Tehran would withdraw from the NPT if attacked by Israel which has increased hints it may launch air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Iran's parliament does not decide matters of foreign policy and national security, which are the province of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Siemens denies Iranian nuclear sabotage claims

Germany's Siemens on Sunday denied charges by yet another Iranian lawmaker that it planted explosives in equipment sold to Iran for use in its nuclear programme. "Siemens does not have any business ties with Iran's nuclear programme and does not supply any technical equipment for it," a spokesman for the Munich-based multinational company said.

Earlier, on Saturday, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian Parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said intelligence and security officials had detected explosive material inside devices supplied for Iran's nuclear activities. "It was planned that these devices would explode once used and damage all of our systems, but in the end with the knowledge of our experts, this enemy conspiracy was foiled," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by ICANA, Iran's parliamentary news agency.

"The Siemens company must be held accountable for its actions," he said.

Iran has previously accused Israel and Western governments of attempting to sabotage its atomic programme by assassinating nuclear scientists and planting computer viruses. Tehran says it is developing nuclear energy in order to generate electricity, and denies Western accusations it is bent on acquiring atomic bombs.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Yeganeh Torbati, Editing by Mark Trevelyan)