Iran's president on Wednesday dismissed Western concerns over its nuclear
program as "a big lie," a day after key U.N. Security Council members agreed to
present Tehran with a choice of incentives or sanctions in deciding whether to
suspend uranium enrichment.
Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at a press conference after meeting with
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ahmadinejad said his
country has cooperated with international agencies, saying Iran has
allowed '2,000 man-hours' of inspections by the IAEA and that program was
'totally peaceful,' and suggested that concerns raised over nuclear
proliferation were merely an excuse to pressure his country, calling them
'a big lie.' [AP] |
Meanwhile, in a letter to Time magazine published on its Web site, a
representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered new options for
solving the impasse with the United States and its allies.
Hassan Rohani, Iran's former top nuclear negotiator, said Tehran would
consider ratifying an
International Atomic Energy Agency protocol that
provides for intrusive and snap inspections and would also address the question
of preventing a pullout from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, says of the Time magazine
letter, "We've seen it. ... I think there really isn't anything new in it." He
said the letter does not deal at all with enrichment.
The current Iranian negotiator, Ali Larijani, said Tuesday that Tehran had no
intention of withdrawing from the treaty and promised to cooperate if the U.N.
atomic watchdog agency, rather than the Security Council, dealt with the issue
of its nuclear program.
Iran ended all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA in February, including
allowing snap inspections of its nuclear facilities.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters Wednesday in Indonesia's
capital that Iran will "absolutely not back out" of defending its right to
pursue new technology, accusing the United States and other Western nations of
monopolizing the nuclear technology market to secure profits while engaging in
non-peaceful proliferation.
"They pretend that they are concerned about the nature of the nuclear program
of the Islamic republic of Iran," he said after meeting with Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "This is a big lie."
"Today the people of Iran are not just defending their own rights, but also
those of other nations," he said. "They (the United States and other Western
powers) want to prevent other countries from reaching the pinnacle of science
and technology."
At a meeting Tuesday, representatives of the United States, Russia, China,
Britain and France as well as Germany agreed to tell Iran the possible
consequences of its refusal to halt its enrichment program and the benefits if
it abandons it.
The move will delay a U.S.-backed draft U.N. resolution that could lead to
sanctions and possible military action if Iran does not suspend uranium
enrichment.
U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday she and her
counterparts on the U.N. Security Council agreed to give Iran another two weeks
to reconsider its position.
"We agreed to continue to seek a Security Council resolution but that we
would wait for a couple of weeks while the Europeans design an offer to the
Iranians that would make clear they have a choice that would allow them to have
a civil nuclear program, if that is indeed what they want," Rice said on U.S. TV
network ABC's "Good Morning America."
The Chinese and Russians have balked at the British, French and U.S. efforts
to put the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Such a move would
declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for
further measures if Tehran refuses to comply. Those measures could range from
breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.
Representatives from the three European countries that had been spearheading
negotiations with Iran — Britain, France and Germany — will now spend the next
few days preparing a package of incentives and sanctions, a European official
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because there has been no official
announcement.
The official said the package is likely to include issues related to energy
security and civilian nuclear power. The package will be presented to
European Union foreign ministers on the sidelines of an EU meeting in
Brussels on Monday, and if approved will be presented to the Iranian government,
the official said.
The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a
charge Tehran denies, saying it aims only to generate energy.
Yudhoyono, speaking at a joint news conference after he met with Ahmadinejad
for about 90 minutes, said he believed Iran was willing to resolve the nuclear
standoff peacefully through further negotiations, and offered to help mediate.
Yudhoyono's spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal, said Iran was very receptive to the
offer.
"We need to breathe new life into the negotiations," he said.
Ahmadinejad was in Indonesia for a three-day state visit followed by a
development conference on the resort island of Bali.
