TEHRAN -- Through leveling baseless charges against Iran, Israel is attempting to create a poisonous atmosphere against Iran, said an official here yesterday. Spokesman of Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Seyed Khalil Mousavi told the TEHRAN TIMES that the Zionist regime tries to divert public opinion fr1om its own violations in the nuclear weapons field. Zionist Regime's Prime Minister Ehud Barak told President Boris Yeltsin on Monday that he was concerned Russia might be supplying nuclear know-how to Iran. The Zionist premier said to both Yeltsin and Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin that he was "deeply concerned about deliveries of technology to Iran." "We are not interested in providing nuclear equipment to Iran," Stepashin insisted.

"Israel itself has not signed international accords concerning nuclear weapons and it is a violator itself," Mousavi said. Iran is a signatory to NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). "Iran and Russia will continue their cooperation in line with their agreements and will not allow any country to interfere in their internal affairs," he emphasized. Elaborating on Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation, Mousavi said that such cooperation is conducted within the framework of international norms.

"We are cooperating for the completion and construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the two sides up to date have had no differences," Mousavi emphasized. The construction of the Bushehr power plant began in the pre-revolution era by the Germans, but they stopped their cooperation after the revolution.