Read by the Governor of the Russian Federation

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honor to make this statement on behalf of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Our six countries wish to thank Director General Amano for his latest report on the "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of the UNSC Resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran". We commend the Secretariat for its efforts to pursue its verification mission and reaffirm that the IAEA plays an essential role in establishing confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

We recall that our six countries, with the support of the EU High Representative, are determined and committed to find a comprehensive negotiated long-term solution which restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, while respecting Iran's legitimate right under the NPT to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Iran's obligations under the relevant UNSC and the IAEA Board of Governors
Resolutions are explicitly set out in the latest IAEA report. Full implementation by
Iran of these international obligations is needed to establish confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. The implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement, and relevant provisions of UNSC Resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which were adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, is mandatory.

We call on Iran to cooperate fully with the Agency, including prompt implementation and ratification of the Additional Protocol, applying the modified Code 3.1 of the subsidiary arrangements to its Safeguards Agreement, and implementing all transparency measures, as requested by the Agency. Outstanding issues need to be resolved in order to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program.

We, together with the EU High Representative, held two meetings with Iran in the last few months, one in Geneva in December, and another in Istanbul in January. At that meeting, it was not possible to reach any substantive result. We came to Geneva and to Istanbul with a constructive spirit and proposed in Istanbul several practical ideas aimed at building confidence and to facilitate the engagement of a constructive dialogue with Iran on the basis of reciprocity and step-by-step approach. We look to Iran to engage in future in a similarly constructive spirit.

We reaffirm our June 2008 offer and the proposals we made in Istanbul. It remains our wish to establish a cooperative relationship with Iran in many fields including that of peaceful nuclear technology - where of course we fully recognize Iran's rights under the NPT. We invite Iran to consider our proposals seriously.

We remain ready to participate actively in the E3+ 3 process with Iran. We expect Iran to demonstrate a pragmatic attitude and to respond positively to our proposals and to our openness toward dialogue and negotiations. The door remains open.