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Iran will consider any new atom fuel ideas: Mottaki
Workers move a fuels rod at the Fuel Manufacturing plant at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility 440 Km (273 miles) south of Tehran April 9, 2009.
Credit: Reuters/Caren Firouz
TEHRAN |
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran would consider any new ideas on a proposed nuclear fuel swap with major powers, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday, after meeting his Turkish counterpart in Tehran.
But there was no immediate sign that the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had produced any breakthrough in Iran's long-running nuclear standoff with the West.
Davutoglu, who arrived late on Monday to try to salvage a U.N.-brokered uranium swap deal as calls grow for new sanctions against Iran, was expected to meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later on Tuesday.
Turkey, which has strengthened its ties with Iran since the Islamist-rooted AK Party took power, has offered to use its access to the Iranian leadership to help solve a dispute between global powers and Tehran over its nuclear program.
Washington and its allies fear Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons, and are lobbying for new United Nations sanctions, but Tehran says its aims are purely peaceful.
CONSULTATIONS
Mottaki described the talks with Davutoglu as consultations, rather than any mediation between Tehran and the world powers involved in efforts to resolve the nuclear row diplomatically.
"We have informed our Turkish friends about the latest developments on Iran's peaceful nuclear case," Mottaki told a joint news conference with Davutoglu.
Ahmadinejad's order last week to start production of higher-grade uranium, rather than agree to the U.N.-brokered fuel swap proposal, exposes Tehran to new calls for U.N. sanctions from Western powers.
Mottaki, echoing comments by Iran's nuclear agency chief on Monday, said the United States, France and Russia had submitted a new letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The letter contained a new proposal, Mottaki said. "While we are continuing our (nuclear) activities we will consider any new idea or proposal, either given directly or indirectly via the agency (IAEA)," he said, giving no details.
The United States denied on Monday that it had made new proposals along with France and Russia on the nuclear fuel swap, and said "the door remains open" for Tehran to accept the proposal offered in October.
France also dismissed the report, saying the existing deal was the only valid offer. Russia said the countries had simply confirmed their support for a proposal brokered by the IAEA last year to send much of Iran's low enriched uranium abroad.
Iran wants any such swap, under which Iran would receive higher-grade fuel for a medical reactor, to be simultaneous.
Turkey has offered itself as a third country where the uranium could be exchanged, but Davutoglu did not specifically address the nuclear issue at Tuesday's news conference.
"The relationship between Turkey and Iran has a great potential. We want to make use of this potential and we aim to increase the trade volume between the two countries to $30 billion," he said.
(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb, Reza Derakhshi and Parisa Hafezi in Tehran and Zerin Elci in Ankara; writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by David Stamp)
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First you have a country that has violated over 131 UN resolutions, attacked its neighbours, destabilized neighbouring countries and conducted state sponsored terror and assassinations. Recently it was condemned in a report implicating it in war crimes. Then comes this countries major ally, the US who has American troops amassed on its eastern and western borders. Would you not feel a little threatened?
Seeking a nuclear deterrent against any aggression from the US and Israel would be a very wise move by the Iranians. The sooner they achieve it the better as it would make the American cowboys and its Israeli bully in the region think thrice before bullying Iran militarily.
This is a regional view. The other view is the pan Muslim view. Which sees western attempts to impose sanctions against Iran as sheer hypocrisy and double standards. The sole reason the Muslim world sees it as this is Israel privileged treatment by the West. Why is Israel allowed to have nuclear technology and weapons whereas a Muslim nation cannot even came near the technology for fear it may produce a weapon. The West is seen as being prejudiced against Muslims achieving and developing their countries technologically for fear of this technology being used against the West. In spite of this technology being vital for the growth of the Muslim nation matters little to the West, they are blinded by the fear that Iran may threaten them with it.
But and this is a big but, what is the likelihood of Iran threatening the Western world (USA, Britain) with technology that is almost a century old?
Very little. I mean why would they want to? The Iranians know that the US and Britain have this technology for almost a century and have advanced and sophisticated this technology way beyond they possibly could. Even in spite of Iranian leaders repeating ad nauseam that they do not want nuclear weapons, western prejudices carried for ages from the crusades don’t allow for Muslims to be trusted and taken on their word.
Further what track record has Iran got to suggest that it may advance territorially in the region? None. In fact Israel has a more dubious track record in this regard with over 131 UN resolution violations, destabilizing it neighbours, war crimes and state sponsored cross bordered terrorism, land occupation, property demolition and ethnic cleansing (expulsion of over a million Palestinians from their place of birth)
Whichever way you look at this Western or Muslim, Iran’s demand for the right to self determination, Israeli-Western fears the there are no winners. Iran will enrich its Uranium; the West spurred on by Israel will succeed in imposing sanctions on Iran with the aim of toppling the regime. Whether these sanctions succeed in toppling the Iranian regime is highly unlikely. The West through its agent in the area (read Israel) will then resort to or has already resorted to the dirty proxy war of destabilization of Iran. [Re: assassinating Iranian intellectuals (12 Jan 2010) disseminating propaganda via the mainstream media, stirring unrest, sponsoring dissident groups (I thought we had a word reserved for this, it begins with a T, but I am made to believe it only is applicable exclusively to Muslims)
A simpler route and more logical way out would be to work with the Iranians and develop a fool proof systems to ensure they don’t over enrich their uranium yield. This system should serve as a model for any other country attempting to enrich its uranium on its soil. In this way the world would progress because its Iran tomorrow it will be another European country and who says Europeans don’t go to war with each other. History says otherwise.
So the West should be pragmatic and use Iran as a model to develop systems and mechanisms to ally this fear.
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