Iran says it will not back down on nuclear issue

Sunday 03rd August, 05:07 AM JST

TEHRAN,Iran —

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Saturday that Tehran will not give up its “nuclear rights,” according to the official Web site of the Iranian leader, in remarks that rebuffed an informal deadline set by the U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany.

Any participation by Iran in international talks on the nuclear issue would “definitely be aimed at reinforcing” those rights, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in the report.

The website said Ahmadinejad made the remarks during discussions with Syrian President Beshar Assad, who arrived on a two-day visit. “The Iranian nation will not give up a single iota of its nuclear rights,” Ahmadinejad said.

Assad is in Tehran to discuss Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment following a request from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Syria is Iran’s closest Arab ally—the two countries have had close relations since 1980, when Syria sided with Persian Iran against Iraq in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Assad, who has been seeking a more prominent Mideast role for Syria, promised Sarkozy during a visit to France in July to try to persuade Iran to offer proof to the West that it isn’t developing nuclear weapons.

Iran’s claims that it only wants nuclear technology for the production of energy have failed to quell Western suspicions that it is seeking a pathway to an atomic bomb.

Tehran was given an informal two-week deadline, set July 19 by the Security Council’s permanent members plus Germany, to stop expanding uranium enrichment—at least temporarily—in exchange for their commitment to stop seeking new U.N. sanctions.

The deadline expires this weekend.

Ahmadinejad’s stance signaled both a failure of Assad’s mission and a rejection of the deadline, although the wording indicated he was not ruling out international talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Meanwhile in Brussels, a European Union official said Saturday that the office of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had not yet received an answer from Iran but expected a reply “in the coming days” after the weekend deadline.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said EU nations and diplomats are not too concerned about Tehran’s adherence to the exact deadline—but are keen for Iran to come back with a concrete reply that could form the basis of further negotiations.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Iran to stop playing for time and deliver a “clear answer” to the latest initiative. “Stop dallying,” Steinmeier was quoted as saying in an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel that was released Saturday.

Steinmeier said he expected “a clear signal for a mutual freeze: We would freeze our sanctions efforts and Iran the development of its centrifuges.” He warned it would be “negligent” for Iran to pass on the opportunity and added that in case of Tehran’s refusal, the six nations would consider increasing pressure on Iran “via sanctions.”

The Security Council has slapped three sets of sanctions on Iran over its enrichment and reprocessing of uranium, which can produce the ingredients for a bomb but which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes only.

In Damascus, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported on Assad’s visit as having affirmed “identical views” of the two countries on “major regional and international” issues. The agency, which is a government mouthpiece, hailed the two nations’ rejection of “foreign dictates” and stressed the need for a “timetable for a withdrawal of foreign forces from” Iraq—an allusion to U.S. troops there.

Assad’s visit was also to focus on economic ties between Tehran and Damascus that have resulted in over a dozen projects in Syria, worth $896 million, SANA said, adding that both governments are “seriously seeking to increase the size of joint investments to more than US$3 billion over the next years.”

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Associated Press Writer Geir Moulson in Berlin and Constant Brand in Brussels contributed to this report.

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6 Comments

SezWho2 at 06:02 PM JST - 3rd August

I doubt that anything will "quell" Western suspicions that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon. I think that's because the West is more interested in denying nuclear technology to Iran than it is denying it the bomb. So it will always keep this line of criticism alive.

There are about 120 "non-aligned" nations, Iran being one. Over 100 of them agree that Iran has the right to the full energy cycle. Eventually all these nations will need alternative energy sources.

The question is: where will they go for nuclear energy? Will they go to the great powers who they are more or less oxymoronically aligned against? Or will they go to one of their own?

The West has economic reasons for denying Iran the nuclear cycle. Fear of the bomb is simply a tool.
SuperLib at 02:43 AM JST - 4th August

The West has economic reasons for denying Iran the nuclear cycle. Fear of the bomb is simply a tool.

Anyone else agree with this?
undecidedbout08 at 02:56 AM JST - 4th August

The West has economic reasons for denying Iran the nuclear cycle. Fear of the bomb is simply a tool.

Care to be specific? Who is 'the West' and what are these economic reasons?
SezWho2 at 07:27 AM JST - 4th August

undecidedbout08,

"the West" would be the same "the West" as mentioned in the article and the economic reasons would be the same as mentioned in my post. I'm assuming that you know which nations are leading the charge on allegations of Iranian nuclear weapons development and that you are aware of the economic value of controlling energy sources.
Helter_Skelter at 12:33 PM JST - 4th August

The West has economic reasons for denying Iran the nuclear cycle. Fear of the bomb is simply a tool.

The left loves their conspiracy theories.
SezWho2 at 01:33 PM JST - 4th August

And Dick Cheney loves his secret energy plan.