Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali-Asghar Soltanieh accused the United States on Friday of double standards over the issue of nuclear energy.

Soltanieh said in a press release that the United States, on the one hand, banned Iran's peaceful nuclear program, while on the other hand, did nuclear trading with India, which did not sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The double standards of the United States was worthy of serious concern, said Soltanieh, adding the policy has been and is undermining the credibility, integrity and universality of the NPT.

Iran believed the United States had ulterior motives in the nuclear cooperation agreement with India, he said.

The United States was trying to create a precedent for its Middle East ally Israel, who did not sign the NPT either, he added.

The IAEA's 35-member board of governors approved an inspection agreement with India Friday afternoon, which is key to finalizing a US-India nuclear cooperation agreement.

The so-called safeguards agreement will subject Indian nuclear facilities to IAEA supervision and is a pre-condition to an agreement under which India could obtain nuclear technology and fuel from the United States without signing the NPT.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2008)