IRAN: Iran urges atomic talks while Russia rejects imposing sanctions

Iran said on Friday (September 1) that a nuclear standoff with the West could only be settled through negotiation while Russia called imposing punitive sanctions on Tehran for not ending sensitive atomic work a dead end. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed never to give up Iran's nuclear ambitions. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will never retreat from its certain rights to peaceful nuclear activities," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on state television. "The claims of Western countries who say Iran seeks nuclear weapons are sheer lies because we do not need nuclear weapons," he said. Residents in Tehran threw their support behind Ahmadinejad and insisted their country has a right to continue its nuclear programme. "For all the sanctions that they (the West) have imposed on us - we have paid a lot, therefore we are ready to pay again for new ones. Of course we have to review this and see whether the (proposed) package is beneficial for us or not," said one Tehran resident, Hamid Derakhshani. "It would be much better for Iran to continue the enrichment of uranium, for us to reach this point of developing nuclear energy - we have had a lot of disagreements from other countries, to the point of threatening us with an attack today or tomorrow but nothing has happened yet", said high school student, Mohammad Reza Mohammadzadeh. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov cast doubt on whether the U.N. Security Council can reach quick consensus on punitive measures. "The six countries are continuing consultations; we are studying the IAEA report, which was presented to the Security Council of the United Nations. And of the basis of our ongoing discussions, which the six nations are engaged in, we will make a decision, a decision which will be based on the NPT, and the legal right of each nation to have a peaceful energy programme, as long as it fulfils its international obligations - this is what we are discussing. The methods by which this will be achieved are still under consideration. We allow for a wide range of views, as long as they do not lead to a dead end, but take us towards the goal which I have mentioned," Lavrov said. During Friday prayers, a senior Iranian clerical politician echoed Ahmadinejad's defiance and said that a nuclear standoff with the West could only be settled through negotiation. "It was said to them (refers to the West) sit back, we are ready for negotiations. Do not threaten or intimidate us. Let's talk and we will will accept anything reasonable that you would have to say, and you should accept our logical words too," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, senior Iranian clerical politician, said during Friday prayers. "In this way we should sit down, talk to each other to help us maintain our right. We will not give up on our right and you should not trample upon our rights," he added. European Union foreign ministers, meeting in Finland, want further dialogue with Iran rather than sanctions after Tehran defied Thursday's U.N. deadline to stop work that the West fears could be a prelude to making a nuclear bomb, officials said. At a two-day informal meeting near Finland's border with Russia, the EU ministers were expected to seek fresh talks despite U.S. pressure for a rapid move to impose sanctions. The U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Thursday that Tehran had failed to meet an Aug. 31 deadline to halt uranium enrichment. The West accuses Iran of seeking to build atomic bombs, a charge Iran denies, saying its aim is to produce electricity. The IAEA report also said Iran had recently resumed enriching small amounts of uranium and said Iran's lack of cooperation had blocked the U.N. atomic watchdog's probes. Asefi said the report showed Iran had met its commitments under international regulations, including the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and also showed Iran's "extensive cooperation" with the IAEA. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated his defiant line on Friday, vowing never to give up Iran's nuclear ambitions. The European Union expressed continued concern. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told Reuters he hoped to meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, in the coming days to seek a clear answer to major power proposals for broad cooperation if Tehran halts uranium enrichment. An EU diplomat said they were tentatively due to meet in Berlin next Tuesday (September 5), one day before six big powers meet in the German capital to chart next steps in the standoff with Iran. An EU official said Finland, which holds the 25-nation bloc's rotating presidency, did not want any substantial discussion of sanctions at their meeting. Iran sent a confidential 21-page reply last week to explain its position but Western officials said it evaded the world community's key demand to halt making nuclear fuel. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, who will chair the meeting, said the EU should try to convince the Islamic Republic to give a straightforward answer and suspend enrichment. Diplomats said Iran's tactic was to fudge the deadline, and try to divide Russia and China from the West and the Europeans from the United States by dangling the possibility of a negotiated freeze on enrichment at a later date.

ITN Source | September 1, 2006

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