FNA - Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi underlined the need for the UN nuclear watchdog not to pay attention to the information provided by foreign intelligence agencies with hostile positions towards Tehran.

�The (International Atomic Energy) Agency should not be a complementary instrument for the countries� spy services and endorse the espionage acts which violate other countries� sovereignty rights as well as laws ruling the international relations,� Salehi said in an interview with the Persian-language Etemad newspaper on Sunday.

The IAEA had last month repeated certain countries� claim that it had identified three locations in Iran where the country possibly stored undeclared nuclear material or undertook nuclear-related activities without declaring it to international observers.

Commenting on the claims, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi demanded Iran�s �clarifications� over the so-called undeclared sites.

Salehi expressed surprise that the claims by Israel and certain countries against Iran have received attention from the IAEA after the term of its former chief Amano ended, but meantime, said that more time is needed for precise judgement.

In relevant remarks last month, AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said that the UN nuclear watchdog had raised demands from Iran which did not have any legal basis, adding that Tehran had strong reasons not to respond them.

Tehran has "strong reasons� not to respond to �unprincipled questions and demands� by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kamalvandi said in an interview with the state TV.

He added that Iran has offered the most detailed reports to the agency, noting that no country in the world has had this level of cooperation with the IAEA.

�Questions and accesses demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency must have a legal basis,� Kamalvandi added.