国际英语新闻：Iran hopes Tehran nuclear summit paves way for NPT reforms

TEHRAN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian official voiced hope Saturday that the ongoing international disarmament and noNPRoliferation summit in Tehran will pave the way for reforms on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), local satellite Press TV reported.

"We hope that the conference in Tehran will effectively pave the way for the NPT review talks in New York," Iran's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh was quoted as saying.

On the sidelines of the opening session of a two-day nuclear disarmament conference in Tehran on Saturday, Soltanieh said the ongoing summit in Iran can play a significant role in the outcome of next month's NPT conference in New York.

"The talks in Tehran will undoubtedly have an effect on the ( NPT) review conference," he said.

The conference in Tehran portrays the Islamic Republic's dedication to the rules of peaceful application of nuclear energy, he added.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in the nuclear summit on Saturday that the United States should be removed from the IAEA, according to Press TV.

The Tehran conference, entitled "Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for None," is expected to focus on disarmament challenges, international obligations for disarmament and non- proliferation and practical steps for the materialization of disarmament.