Report: Nonaligned bloc backs Iran nuclear energy

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A summit of emerging nations in Tehran issued a declaration Friday supporting Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the country’s state television reported.

The broadcast said support for Iran’s nuclear energy program was one of many articles approved by the final declaration at the end of the two-day meeting of the 120-nation Nonaligned Movement.

The U.S. and its allies have accused Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claims.

Iran has been seeking to win support from the bloc, accounting for nearly two-thirds of U.N. member states, for its nuclear program. Tehran has used the summit to show that U.S.-led efforts to isolate it have failed.

It was not immediately clear from the television broadcast whether the wording of the declaration backed Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, or whether the text simply asserted a general right to produce nuclear energy.

The declaration was approved a day after the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Iran has effectively shut down a probe of Parchin military site in southeast Tehran where Iran is suspected of carrying out explosive tests related to a nuclear-weapon trigger.