Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to protect confidential information on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

“The Agency’s officials should exercise greater care in protecting our country’s documents since the leakage of some information in the past has led to the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists,” Mehmanparast said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

“It is natural [to expect] that the officials at the Agency who receive the confidential information of the member countries bear responsibility for protecting such information,” he added.

On January 12, 2010, professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed when an explosive-laden motorbike was blown up with a remote-controlled device near his home.

On November 29, 2010, Professor Majid Shahriari and Dr. Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted by terrorist attacks; Shahriari was killed immediately and Dr. Abbasi, the current head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, sustained injuries.

On July 23, 2011, unidentified gunmen killed the Iranian scholar Dariush Rezaeinejad outside his house in Tehran.

On January 11, 2012, an unknown motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to the car of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan near a college building of Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran. Ahmadi Roshan was immediately killed and his driver, who had sustained injuries, passed away a few hours later in a hospital.

Iran's ties with Palestinian resistance

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman also rejected Western media rumors about the closure of the Hamas office in Tehran, saying that Iran’s relations with the Palestinian resistance movements are "at their best."

“Iran’s relations with Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad are at their best and rumors fueled by Western media are because of the problems they faced during the attack on the Gaza [Strip],” Mehmanparast said.

“They cannot tolerate the victory of the Palestinian people,” the Iranian official said. /SR

Mehmanparast added that providing support for the Palestinian resistance against Israeli crimes and acts of aggression has always been one of the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic.

Over 160 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and about 1,200 others were injured in the Israeli attacks on Gaza that were carried out during the eight-day period of November 14 to 21.

In retaliation, the Palestinian resistance fighters fired rockets and missiles into Israeli cities, killing at least five Israelis.

Egypt announced on November 21 that the Israeli regime and the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, had reached a ceasefire agreement.

Safety of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant

Rejecting reports about technical problems at Bushehr nuclear power plant, Mehmanparast said the ‘US-Israeli designed propaganda campaign’ is aimed at causing concern among regional people regarding Iran’s peaceful atomic activities.

“Bushehr nuclear power plant has been designed with the highest level of safety and the issue of safety is very important for our people,” the Iranian official added. /SR