Iran's Response On Nuclear Issue

[KashifAsrar]

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, which offered Iran the incentives to stop uranium enrichment, Wednesday were studying Iran's offer of more talks to resolve a nuclear dispute. Related:

Iran said its reply to the proposal from the six-nation contained ideas that would allow serious talks on the standoff to start straightaway.

But there was no sign Tehran had agreed to a key Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment by Aug. 31 or face the prospect of sanctions.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Tuesday submitted Iran's formal response to the envoys from China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Switzerland.

Switzerland is representing the United States since Washington has no diplomatic relations with Iran.

China is carefully studying the response of Iran, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman's office Wednesday morning.

"China has always believed that seeking a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic talks is the best choice (to solve the issue) and in the interests of all parties concerned," said the office.

The Chinese side hopes the Iranian side would earnestly consider concerns of the international community and come up with necessary and constructive measures, it said.

"We also hope that other parties concerned will remain calm and patient, show flexibility, stick to the orientation of peaceful resolution (of the issue) and create favorable conditions for resuming talks as soon as possible," the office said.

A White House spokesman said on Tuesday that President George W. Bush had yet to examine the Iranian reply.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Iran's response was "extensive and therefore requires a detailed and careful analysis."

 

[KashifAsrar]

Suspension of uranium enrichment "practically impossible": Iran
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-21 21:09:29

TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Deputy Director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (AEO) Mohammad Sa'eedi said on Monday that suspension of uranium enrichment was "practically impossible" even though the UN Security Council has made such a demand, the local Fars news agency reported.

The UN Security Council has recently adopted a resolution urging Tehran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, or face the prospect of sanctions.

"Considering the technical progresses made by the Iranian scientists in the nuclear ground, suspension of uranium enrichment has now turned practically impossible," Sa'eedi was quoted as saying.

He confirmed that Iran would present its response on Tuesday to an international nuclear package offered by the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.

Tehran's answer would be "very comprehensive and provide a very convenient opportunity for the West to move towards solving the case through negotiations," said the Iranian official.

Meanwhile, Iran would not propose any parallel or counter plan to replace the six-nation package, Sa'eedi said.

The six-nation proposal includes both incentives aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and possible sanctions if Iran does not comply. Iran has promised to give an official response by Aug. 22.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Airstrike not likely to solve Iran's nuclear disputes
www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-13 08:50:05

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. leading newspaper, International Herald Tribune, said Wednesday that "years of frustrating diplomacy have not managed to deflect Iran's nuclear ambitions, but American airstrikes are not likely to either."

A U.S. bombing campaign, which was allegedly under consideration, "would surely rally the Iranian people behind the radical Islamic government and the nuclear program."

"The best hope for avoiding a nuclear-armed Iran lies in encouraging political evolution there over the next decade."

"It is important to make clear to the Iranian people that they have no need for nuclear weapons and would actually better off without them," the newspaper said editorially.

The Washington Post reported early this week that two main options are being seriously considered - a limited strike against Iran nuclear-related sites or a broader campaign against a wider range of military and political targets in the Islamic republic.

The report about a possible military attack against Iran prompted a quick response by U.S. President George W. Bush and the White House.

Dismissing the report as "wild speculation," Bush said on Monday that diplomacy was his focus for keeping Iran from developing nuclear arms.

Referring to Bush remarks that all options are on the table for stopping Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons, the Tribune said if the Bush administration "intends to proceed with a bombing campaign when and if diplomacy fails, Congress and the public needto force the kind of serious national debate that never really took place before the American invasion of Iraq."

The United States, joined by other countries, launched in March 2003 a military invasion of Iraq and toppled then president Saddam Hussein and his regime

 

[sigatoka]

The Washington Post reported early this week that two main options are being seriously considered - a limited strike against Iran nuclear-related sites or a broader campaign against a wider range of military and political targets in the Islamic republic.

The problem with airstrikes is that it will lead to all out war. Airstrikes against nuclear facilties will lead to Iran attacking U.S. ships in the gulf with planes, ships and land based missiles. It will lead to dramatic increase in support for insurgency groups in Iraq and Afghanistan and could lead to direct fighting across the Iraq Iran border with regular Iranian troops.

That this will lead to catastrophic losses for Iran's forces is without question, that it will result in high monetary losses for U.S. is also certain. U.S. can still succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan, taking action against Iran will lead to certain defeat their.

 

[A.Rahman]

Tehran replies without sign of freezing

TEHRAN, Aug 22: Iran handed over on Tuesday its formal response to a nuclear incentives offer from major powers and said it contained ideas that would allow serious talks about its standoff with the West to start immediately.

But Tehran gave no sign of heeding a key United Nations Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment before the end of this month or face the prospect of sanctions.

Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani delivered Iran’s reply to the incentives package at a meeting with foreign envoys representing the offer’s six co-sponsors in Tehran.

“Although there is no justification for the other parties’ illegal move to refer Iran’s case to the Security Council ... the answer was prepared ... to pave the way for fair talks,” Mr Larijani said.

“Iran is prepared to hold serious talks from Aug 23,” he was quoted by ISNA as saying.

He said Iran was ready to play a “constructive” role regarding all issues in the package.

One European diplomat said: “It is a comprehensive answer. The Iranian side said they would welcome a continuation of negotiations.”

Iran says it will not abandon what it calls its right to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power stations. Western countries fear Iran wants to master enrichment to give it the ability to make atomic bombs.

The UN Security Council – frustrated with Iran’s slow response to the incentives offer made by the US, UK, Germany, France, China and Russia in June – has given it Aug 31 to freeze enrichment.

Iran has called the deadline illegal and worthless.

The European diplomat, who was not at the meeting with Mr Larijani but was citing an initial read out, said Iran had again ruled out freezing enrichment as a precondition to talks “but indicated that it might be open to accept suspension in the course of negotiations.

Other diplomats had no immediate comment on Iran’s reply and declined to confirm that Mr Larijani had indicated some flexibility on enrichment.

RICE STUDYING REPLY: The US State Department declined any immediate comment on Iran’s response until full details were known but an official said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had returned from her vacation to examine Tehran’s reply.—Reuters

 

[KashifAsrar]

EU to Query Iran on Lukewarm Response

By ROBERT WIELAARD
The Associated Press
Friday, August 25, 2006; 2:41 PM

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union said Friday it will prod Iran to clarify questions about its lukewarm response to a package of economic incentives designed to get the country to suspend uranium enrichment.

Tehran's response, contained in a 20-page document presented Tuesday, was judged insufficient by the United States and some of the five other major nations that drew up the package.




French President Jacques Chirac on Friday termed Iran's answer a "little ambiguous, notably on whether it would eventually suspend sensitive activities."

Iran didn't even mention the demand of the U.N. Security Council that it stop uranium enrichment by Aug. 31, moving it closer to possible economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Although there was no comment from Iran's government Friday, hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami said Iran was open to negotiations but would not bow to threats.

"The spirit of Iran's response is 'yes' to logical dialogue without precondition. No one can talk to Iran with the language of threats," Khatami said during his Friday sermon broadcast on Iran's state radio.

He urged Russia and China, which also joined in the incentives offer, not to "fall in the trap of the U.S."

Russian Vice Premier Sergei Ivanov said Friday that his government continued to pursue a political resolution of the dispute, saying that "talk about sanctions is premature."

Iran insists its nuclear program has the peaceful goal of generating electricity. But the United States and many of its European allies suspect Iran wants enriched uranium for use in nuclear bombs.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign affairs chief, told reporters he would seek talks with the Iranian leaders to discuss their response. "We have to work to understand it properly," he said.

Solana said he had held two telephone conversations since Tuesday with Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, but needed more talks "before we can come out with a complete response" to Iran's views.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Iran wants guarantees that it won't face U.N. sanctions before it agrees to restart negotiations over its nuclear program and the offer of economic incentives. He called that condition unacceptable

"I have always said that we must begin negotiations without preconditions. ... That is why Iran must understand we cannot come to the negotiating table when every day new centrifuges are being constructed," Steinmeier told reporters.

After talks in Paris with Chirac, German Chancellor Angela Merkel complained that Iran's message had no reference to the demand for a suspension of uranium enrichment. "But the door is open," she said. "We want Iran to clearly recognize the offer it was presented."

Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council _ the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia _ drafted the incentives package in hopes of persuading Iran to return to negotiations on increasing international oversight of its nuclear program.

Steinmeier welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to visit Iran in the coming days and said he hoped Annan would make it clear the international community expected Iran to come back to negotiations without conditions.

"I hope that the U.N. secretary-general can make that once again clear in Tehran," Steinmeier said.

In Tehran, Iranian lawmaker Hamid Reza Hajbabaei urged the West not miss an opportunity for talks, saying the imposition of sanctions would bolster Islamic hardliners and cause greater tension in the Middle East.

"America's adventurist policy in seeking sanctions against Iran simply is harmful to all. In Iran, it will even strengthen the voice of extremists who want Iran's withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and weaken the voice of moderates," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

 

[KashifAsrar]

U.S. May Skirt U.N. on Iranian Nuclear ProgramBy Maggie Farley, Times Staff Writer
8:54 PM PDT, August 25, 2006


UNITED NATIONS — With increasing signs that several fellow Security Council members may stall a United States push to penalize Iran for its nuclear enrichment program, Bush administration officials have indicated that they are prepared to form an independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade.

The strategy, analysts say, reflects not only long-standing U.S. frustration with the Security Council's inaction on Iran, but also the current weakness of Washington's position because of its controversial role in a series of conflicts in the Middle East, most recently in Lebanon.
Despite assurances from Russia and China in July that they would support initial sanctions against Iran if it failed to suspend aspects of its nuclear program, Russia seemed to backtrack this week after Tehran agreed to continue talks, but refused to halt enrichment. A Security Council resolution gives the Islamic Republic until Aug. 31 to stop uranium enrichment, which could provide fuel to produce electricity or possibly atomic weapons, or face penalties.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov said Friday that as long as Iran was willing to negotiate, it was "premature" to punish the country and perhaps permanently isolate it.
"I do not know cases in international practice or the whole of the previous experience when sanctions reached their goals or were efficient," Ivanov said.

"Apart from this, I do not think that the issue is so urgent that the U.N. Security Council or the group of six countries" — the U.S., China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — "should consider the introduction of sanctions. In any case Russia continues to advocate a political and diplomatic solution to the problem."

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Iran's response was "not satisfactory" but France wanted to avoid a new conflict that could lead to "a clash of civilizations."

"But the worst thing would be to escalate into a confrontation with Iran on the one hand — and the Muslim world with Iran — and the West," he said on French radio.

"That would be the clash of civilizations that France today is practically alone in trying to avoid."

U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton said in an interview late this week that the United States planned to introduce a resolution imposing penalties such as a travel ban and asset freeze for key Iranian leaders soon after the Aug. 31 deadline, and seemed optimistic that China and Russia would agree to it once they saw the text. "Everybody's been on board," he said.

But in case Russia and China do not accept it, the U.S. is working a parallel diplomatic track outside the U.N., Bolton said.

Under U.S. terrorism laws, Washington could ramp up its own sanctions, including financial constraints on Tehran and interception of missile and nuclear materials en route to Iran, Bolton said, and the U.S. is encouraging other countries to follow suit.

"You don't need Security Council authority to impose sanctions, just as we have," he said.

The U.S. has had broad restrictions on almost all trade with Iran since 1987. Exceptions include the import of dried fruits and nuts, caviar and carpets. In addition, U.S. companies can obtain licenses to do limited trade in agriculture and medicine. The United States also initiated the Proliferation Security Initiative, involving a coalition of countries that have agreed to intercept shipments of materials to Iran that could be used for weapons of mass destruction.

"We will continue to enhance PSI to cut off flows of materials and technology that are useful to Iran's ballistic missile program and nuclear programs," Bolton said. "We will be constraining financial transactions under existing terrorism laws."

He said Washington was focusing on European and Japanese banks to restrict business with Iran, because most of Tehran's transactions are done in U.S. dollars, euros, British pounds and yen.

"There aren't a lot of opportunities to sell in other currencies," he said.

Bolton and U.S. Treasury officials refused to provide details on which countries might be interested, citing the "sensitivity" of the talks.

But Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said they had already seen results, including Union Bank of Switzerland cutting off relationships with Iran.

"We're seeing more financial institutions around the world looking at the actions and messages emanating out of Iran — from their nuclear ambitions to state sponsorship of Hezbollah — and asking themselves, 'do we really want to be Iran's banker?' " she said in an e-mail.

Though U.S. officials said pursuing parallel paths is "common sense" and highlights what they consider to be the inefficiency of the Security Council, some analysts said the move would underline Washington's inability to win over the council and the lack of options against a newly emboldened Iran.

"When you start doing things that would be better with the Security Council's endorsement, does it show weakness or strength?" said George Perkovich, the director of the nonproliferation program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Iran could argue that 'the U.S. couldn't even get the Security Council backing, and so we are winning.' "

Perkovich said even traditional U.S. allies were fatigued by dealing with so many conflicts and didn't want to add Iran to a list that includes Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon.

"There is a general reluctance to follow the U.S. lead," he said. "Our negotiating power is diminished, which is regrettable."

Russia and China have specifically objected to the use of a U.N. charter measure known as Chapter 7 that would open the door to military action or sanctions. But Bolton said that a resolution on North Korea passed unanimously in July might create a new template for dealing with those concerns.

That resolution instituted a ban on supplying technology and goods related to North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, and got around China's and Russia's doubts about Chapter 7 with other legally binding language that would prevent an Iraq-style invasion.

"There are some aspects of the North Korea resolution that will be useful," Bolton said. "A lot of this is just going to have be played out."

Times staff writer David Holley in Moscow contributed to this report.

 

[KashifAsrar]

China, Iran pursue "diplomacy" to end nuclear crisis
30 Aug 2006 05:07:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
Printable view | Email this article | RSS [-] Text [+]

BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Iran and oil-famished China agreed on favouring a diplomatic solution to international confrontation over Tehran's nuclear plans at a meeting on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a brief statement on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).

"Both sides exchanged views on developments in the Iranian nuclear issue, and stressed that it should be appropriately resolved through diplomatic negotiations," the statement said.

The U.N. Security Council has told Iran to suspend atomic fuel work by Aug. 31 or face possible sanctions. The West suspects Iran is seeking the ability to make nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its only aim is to generate electricity.

The United States has threatened swift action on sanctions after Aug. 31 if Iran does not heed the U.N. demand. But Russia and China, both major trading partners with Iran, have been unwilling to impose sanctions and could frustrate such a move in the Security Council.

In the first seven months of 2006, Chinese trade with Iran reached $7.9 billion, a jump of 43.9 percent on the same period last year, driven by rising Iranian oil exports, according to Chinese Customs statistics.

China's imports of Iranian crude reached 9.7 million tonnes in the first seven months, a rise of 10.4 percent percent in volume compared to the same time last year.

With rocketing oil prices, the value of those Iranian crude imports leapt 45.7 percent to $4.4 billion.

A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in Beijing confirmed Araghchi had visited for two days of talks with Chinese diplomats and said there would be no news briefing.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Please post your comment on this NEWS !!!
R Americans kidding since last one year when they were threatening Tehran ? ..
Kashif

US for "changing Iran's behaviour" at U.N. Washington, Aug. 30 (PTI): With the UN deadline for Iran to halt sensitive nuclear work ending tomorrow, the US is trying to get the message across to Tehran that there is still time to comply with the Security Council resolution in this regard.

Washington is also trying to make the point that the final goal is not sanctions but to "change Iran's behaviour".

At the State Department, Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey refused to respond to a query on "division within the administration" on how to deal with Tehran. While some officials are reportedly pushing for a graduated stepping up of sanctions, others are favouring a more hardline approach.

"We're first of all going to have a serious discussion in the Council after the deadline has passed, and we'll move forward. Obviously, we'll take this step by step.

"We'll take another shot at a resolution that puts sanctions forward. The exact nature of that and whether it will require ad ditional steps or not, we'll just have to wait and see," Casey told reporters.

"The most important thing here, the game plan here and the goal here is not to impose sanctions. The goal here is to change Iranian behaviour and in a way that not only satisfies the concerns of the international community about Iran's potential development of a nuclear weapon, but also ultimately advances the interests of the Iranian people themselves," the State Department spokesman said.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Iran Enriching More Uranium
U.S. Officials View the Act as Defiant As Deadline to Suspend Program Nears

By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 30, 2006; Page A12

Iranian nuclear specialists have begun enriching a new batch of uranium in an apparent act of defiance just days ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline for Tehran to stop such work or face the prospect of economic sanctions, officials in Washington and European capitals who have been monitoring Iran's efforts said yesterday.

Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency plan to formally disclose the new enrichment work, as well as additional Iranian nuclear advances, in a report due out tomorrow, according to the officials, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.



The officials stressed that the Iranians are working at a slow pace with small quantities of uranium, and that they are enriching the material to an extremely low level that could not be used for nuclear weapons. Still, it is unlikely that the Iranians will stop the work in time to meet the Security Council's deadline.

For three years, Iran and the United States have publicly sparred over a nuclear program that Tehran says it built to produce energy but which the Bush administration believes is a cover for nuclear weapons work. IAEA inspectors have been trying, without success, to determine the true nature of the program, which Iran kept secret for 18 years.

Last month, the Security Council ordered Iran to shutter its nuclear facilities by Aug. 31 and cooperate with inspectors or face consequences. If Iran complied, U.S. officials said they were prepared to join talks on Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of future cooperation. But, yesterday, senior Bush administration officials said they are determined to impose sanctions against the Tehran government if it fails to comply, even though Russia and other nations seem reluctant to participate.

"We've seen no indication that Iran intends to comply with the U.N. Security Council's condition of suspending its nuclear program," Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, the administration's lead diplomat on the Iran issue, said in an interview. "Should it not comply by Thursday, and should the IAEA report confirm Iran's continued efforts to enrich uranium, the U.S. will move to begin sanctions discussion at the United Nations, and we expect a sanctions resolution to be passed," he said.

Despite comments over the weekend from senior Russian officials that it is too early for sanctions, Burns said the administration would press for the commitments that it believes Moscow and others made when they passed the deadline resolution in July.

Burns said he will meet his European, Chinese and Russian counterparts next week in Berlin, and that he expects sanctions to be in place by the end of September.

But other officials seemed less certain that the Bush administration could persuade the U.N. Security Council to approve or even enforce sanctions against one of the world's major oil exporters.

"We might take another shot at a resolution that puts sanctions forward. The exact nature of that and whether it will require additional steps or not, you know, we'll just have to wait and see," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said yesterday. John R. Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also indicated that the administration may work outside the council.

European officials appeared less eager to discuss sanctions and were arranging to meet later this week in Europe with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. The Iranians put forth what they said was a new proposal last week, and said they are eager for talks with the United States and its allies but will not comply with the resolution as a precondition for those discussions.

At the United Nations, Britain's ambassador said that the Iran situation will not come up for discussion again until mid-September. In France, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he hopes sanctions can be averted.

"But Iran has less than a week to comply with the resolution. We shall make the most of the remaining time to have more detailed discussions regarding its response," he told reporters.

Privately, two senior administration officials said that if Russia or China balked at sanctions now, the United States would push a backup plan to restrict Iran's nuclear industry, freeze the assets of key members of the Tehran government, and prevent them from traveling abroad. The measures would be imposed collectively by the European Union and possibly Japan. Some hoped that the IAEA report would encourage nations to work harder on the Iran issue.

"A tough report puts the focus back on Iran, which has broken rules and has failed to cooperate, and takes it away from this perception that the U.S. is just bullying Iran," said George Perkovich, vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "An IAEA report that calls it like it is makes it hard for countries to walk away from the issue because it will be clear that it isn't getting better."

Several times since international pressure began to build against Iran's nuclear program in 2003, Tehran has rushed to complete small projects immediately ahead of deadlines, calculating that technical achievements would give it a tactical advantage during negotiations.

Officials familiar with the inspectors' summer findings said they will report that Iran has produced several kilograms of low-enriched uranium and as much as 145 tons of converted uranium in the past year. Iran's two main nuclear facilities, the IAEA's most heavily monitored in the world, are outfitted with dozens of cameras pointed at every piece of equipment and barrel that contains uranium.

Inspectors continue to visit certain sites as well, but Iran ended voluntary cooperation with the agency several months ago and has threatened to end it entirely if the Security Council imposes sanctions.

Much of what is known by U.S. intelligence about Iran's nuclear program comes from the inspectors. Current intelligence assessments predict that Iran could have a nuclear weapon within a decade if it vastly improves its capabilities.

 

[KashifAsrar]

Bush warns Iran on N-programme

Salt Lake City: President Bush said on Thursday that Iran has responded with defiance and delay to demands to stop enriching uranium and said “there must be consequences” for Tehran.
Bush put the nuclear standoff with Iran in a larger context, saying the violence in Lebanon this summer makes Tehran’s designs on the world stage clear. He blamed Iran for supporting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, for helping to destabilise Iraq by sponsoring insurgents, and for denying basic human rights to millions of its own people.
“The world now faces a grave threat from the radical regime in Iran,” the president said. “We know the depth of suffering that Iran’s sponsorship of terrorists has brought. And we can imagine how much worse it would be if Iran were allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.”
Bush delivered his starkest threat yet to Tehran in a speech to thousands of veterans at the American Legion convention. “There must be consequences for Iran’s defiance,” he said, “and we must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons.” Thursday was the deadline for Tehran to heed the UNSC demand to stop enrichment. AP

US: Military option open

Washington: Raising the pitch of its rhetoric against Iran, the Bush administration has said while the military option against Tehran stayed open, the United States could also pursue economic sanctions beyond what the UN Security Council may determine.
“We’re exercising a lot of diplomatic activity here to try and resolve this peacefully. That’s our objective but no president charged with defending the American people takes the military option off the table,” US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said. PTI

 

[KashifAsrar]

EU, Russia forming hurdle to Iran sanctions

The United States is the driving force behind possible sanctions, but Russia cast doubt on whether the Security Council could reach a quick consensus and said threatening Iran would lead to a "dead end".

"We think it is possible to go forward with dialogue but it is important that the international community show Iran the necessity to change position," Villepin said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome, Italy.

Russia said sanctions would only exacerbate the situation.

"We take into account the experience of the past and we cannot ally ourselves with ultimatums, which all lead to a dead end," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

"Yes, there are countries whose policies raise doubts, and cause discontent, but we all live in the same world and we need to ... draw them into dialogue, and not isolation and sanctions."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/01/iran.sanctions.reut/

 

[KashifAsrar]

 

[Owais]

Ahmadinejad vows on country nuke issue, defend its aim


TEHRAN (updated on: September 03, 2006, 01:27 PST): President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday vowed Iran would defend the aims of its nuclear programme during any negotiations, as the European Union gave Tehran extra time to show it was serious about talks.

And as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan began two days of talks in Iran, a top Iranian nuclear official warned that the country might reconsider its co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

"The people will not give in by one iota in their desire to use nuclear energy for peaceful ends and officials have the duty to defend these objectives with firmness during negotiations," Ahmadinejad said.

"The Iranian people will defend their absolute right to use civilian nuclear energy in its entirety and will not step back," he said in a speech in West Azarbaijan province.

Iran has defied Western demands to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel and, in highly extended form, the explosive core of an atomic bomb.

Its rejection of a Thursday deadline to halt enrichment have left it facing a push by the United States for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Tehran.

But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said during talks in Finland with EU foreign ministers that the European Union was giving Iran a "short" time but no set deadline to make progress in talks on suspending uranium enrichment.

"We are going to start in the coming days and I hope it will be very short," Solana told reporters in Lappeenranta, Finland, while declining to set a deadline.

In an interview to appear on Sunday in the French newspaper Journal de Dimanche, Solana said: "For the moment we must make an effort at understanding one another's positions."

Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are to meet in Berlin on Wednesday for talks on an incentive offer from the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany aimed at making Iran suspend enrichment.

"We don't want to slam the door but we need a signal from Iran that it is ready to move in our direction," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Meanwhile, Annan expressed caution over the US drive to impose sanctions on Tehran, warning that patience would prove more effective than sanctions in persuading Iran to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment work.

"I do not believe sanctions are the solution to everything. There are times when a little patience is more effective. I think that is a quality we should exercise more often," Annan told the French newspaper Le Monde.

Iran could prove its peaceful aims "by giving the UN inspectors access to all its facilities", he said. "Such a move could allow us to move forward."

Annan held talks with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Larijani on Saturday, after which Larijani said: "Kofi Annan's position for solving the Iran nuclear issue is positive and we support this position."

The UN chief was to meet Ahmadinejad early on Sunday, with Lebanon also on the agenda, officials said.

Mottaki said on Saturday that "Iran has supported the Lebanese consensus on the resolution (UN resolution 1701 that ended the fighting) and the United Nations can consolidate the creation of peace on the border" of Lebanon and Israel.

But he warned against any attempt to change the mission and called for a probe into "Zionist crimes" allegedly committed by Israel during its 34-day offensive in Lebanon.

Annan told Le Monde that Iran would also be asked to help secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hizbullah, sparked the devastating month-long war with Israel.

On the nuclear front, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned that Tehran would "revise" its policy of co-operating with the UN watchdog if UN sanctions are imposed.

"If other erroneous measures are committed and the UN Security Council decides on sanctions or punitive measures, there is no doubt that the Islamic Republic of Iran will revise its policy of co-operation and its engagements laid out in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Ali Asghar Soltanieh told state television.

"We will continue our policy of co-operation only if there are no measures against Iran and our rights are not violated," he added. He did not specify what co-operation would be affected but such measures could include limiting IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear sites.

In an interview published on Saturday in Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Soltanieh said Tehran would refuse to suspend enrichment during fresh negotiations with the international community.

Tehran had agreed to suspend enrichment as part of a 2003 and 2004 deal with Britain, France and Germany.

"Iran will not repeat the experience of when it agreed to suspend enrichment for negotiations which dragged on for three years without results," he said. The United States accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge fiercely denied by Tehran, which insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at providing civilian energy.

 

[Owais]

Annan wins Iran backing on Lebanon, happy with nuclear talks

TEHRAN (September 03 2006): UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Saturday won Iranian support for UN efforts to bring peace to Lebanon's border with Israel and held "constructive" talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Annan, on a two-day visit to Tehran, met Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and national security chief Ali Larijani, who told him Tehran was prepared to negotiate over its nuclear programme but without preconditions.

Mottaki, whose country is one of the main backers of the Hezbollah militant group that fought Israel for over a month in Lebanon, said Tehran supported UN efforts to bring peace as it deployed thousands more troops in the region.

"Iran has supported the Lebanese consensus on the resolution (UN resolution 1701 that ended the fighting) and the United Nations can consolidate the creation of peace on the border," Mottaki said according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

However Mottaki also warned that any attempt to change the mission of the expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) "would create tension".

Larijani said after the talks that "both parties agreed that the best solution is to solve the questions through negotiations," according to Mehr.