pkpatriotic
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2008
- Messages
- 2,317
- Reaction score
- 0
Iran again rejects nuclear deadline
Friday, August 01, 2008
The language of deadline-setting is not understandable. We gave them our response, now they have to reply to us: Mottaki
TEHRAN: Iran on Thursday rejected any deadline to give a final response to a package drawn up by world powers seeking to end the nuclear crisis and said there should be more negotiations to reach a deal. The language of deadline-setting is not understandable to us. We gave them our response within a month as we said we would, now they have to reply to us, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Mottaki said Iran and the major powers had agreed at a July 19 meeting in Geneva to find common ground on both sides proposals aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehrans nuclear drive, and denied any ultimatum was set.
Both sides said that in future meetings they should work on the communalities of both frameworks in a constructive way to reach an agreement that satisfies both sides, otherwise Irans constructive activities will take their natural course, he was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
Iran on July 4 handed major powers what it said was its constructive and creative response to their offer presented by EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana in June aimed at persuading Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear work. However, Tehrans arch-foe the United States insisted on Wednesday that Iran must give an answer on Saturday, warning of consequences of any defiance by the Islamic republic.
The package, drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany offers Tehran technology and negotiations if it suspends uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons.
Irans top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili held further talks with Solana on July 19, at a meeting that was also attended by a top US diplomat in a major policy shift by Washington on the nuclear issue.
Solana said then that he expected an answer in a fortnight, but Tehran has since said there was no ultimatum or a deadline, just an agreement that it would examine the proposal during the two weeks.
Perhaps based on incorrect analysis, some of the Geneva participants got the wrong expectation, but our job was to give our views to the 5+1 framework... then we gave our own framework, Mottaki said. Enrichment is a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also create the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
Last Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran had boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, despite calls for a freeze.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Wednesday that there were consequences diplomatically for defying the just demands of the Security Council. Iran, a leading member of Opec, has already been slapped with three sets of Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt enrichment.
On Wednesday, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on the countrys major issues, said the Islamic republic would not retreat on the nuclear issue. Iran won support for its stance from foreign ministers of the 118-member Non Aligned Movement who have been meeting in Tehran this week.
The ministers once again emphasised that Islamic republic of Irans decision to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and its policies on the fuel cycle should be respected, a statement said.
We hope the United States grasps the clear message sent by the 118 members of NAM regarding Irans nuclear programme, Irans envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Friday, August 01, 2008
The language of deadline-setting is not understandable. We gave them our response, now they have to reply to us: Mottaki
TEHRAN: Iran on Thursday rejected any deadline to give a final response to a package drawn up by world powers seeking to end the nuclear crisis and said there should be more negotiations to reach a deal. The language of deadline-setting is not understandable to us. We gave them our response within a month as we said we would, now they have to reply to us, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Mottaki said Iran and the major powers had agreed at a July 19 meeting in Geneva to find common ground on both sides proposals aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehrans nuclear drive, and denied any ultimatum was set.
Both sides said that in future meetings they should work on the communalities of both frameworks in a constructive way to reach an agreement that satisfies both sides, otherwise Irans constructive activities will take their natural course, he was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
Iran on July 4 handed major powers what it said was its constructive and creative response to their offer presented by EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana in June aimed at persuading Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear work. However, Tehrans arch-foe the United States insisted on Wednesday that Iran must give an answer on Saturday, warning of consequences of any defiance by the Islamic republic.
The package, drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany offers Tehran technology and negotiations if it suspends uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons.
Irans top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili held further talks with Solana on July 19, at a meeting that was also attended by a top US diplomat in a major policy shift by Washington on the nuclear issue.
Solana said then that he expected an answer in a fortnight, but Tehran has since said there was no ultimatum or a deadline, just an agreement that it would examine the proposal during the two weeks.
Perhaps based on incorrect analysis, some of the Geneva participants got the wrong expectation, but our job was to give our views to the 5+1 framework... then we gave our own framework, Mottaki said. Enrichment is a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also create the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
Last Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran had boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, despite calls for a freeze.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Wednesday that there were consequences diplomatically for defying the just demands of the Security Council. Iran, a leading member of Opec, has already been slapped with three sets of Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt enrichment.
On Wednesday, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on the countrys major issues, said the Islamic republic would not retreat on the nuclear issue. Iran won support for its stance from foreign ministers of the 118-member Non Aligned Movement who have been meeting in Tehran this week.
The ministers once again emphasised that Islamic republic of Irans decision to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and its policies on the fuel cycle should be respected, a statement said.
We hope the United States grasps the clear message sent by the 118 members of NAM regarding Irans nuclear programme, Irans envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
