ID :
125859
Thu, 06/03/2010 - 15:38
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/125859
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Iran says sanctions will ruin opportunities
BRUSSELS, June 3 (MNA) – The Iranian foreign minister says the efforts to approve new UN sanctions on Iran are confrontational and destructive and will ruin opportunities.
Manouchehr Mottaki made the remarks during a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere in Brussels on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mottaki also warned that governments backing sanctions could scupper Tehran’s proposal to export its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal.
“We believe that moving the resolution through the Security Council is a basis for confrontation. It’s not our preferred option, but that’s up to the other parties,” Mottaki stated.
He advised the United States and its European allies not to torpedo the initiative signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil in Tehran on May 17.
According to the declaration, Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel rods to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.
Cooperation is the best approach
Mottaki briefed Vanackere on Iran’s nuclear activities and called on all countries, and particularly European nations, to support an approach based on cooperation.
He said cooperation can help resolve issues pertaining to nuclear activities and can provide the ground for greater nuclear cooperation among independent countries.
Cooperation also promotes the idea of respecting the rights of signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he stated.
The two foreign ministers also discussed issues of mutual interest as well as regional and international matters and said they were ready to hold talks on human rights, democracy, and the campaigns against terrorism and drug smuggling.
They highlighted the fact that Europe can play a more active role in resolving regional and international crises.
Iran seeking peaceful use of nuclear technology
Foreign Minister Mottaki attended a breakfast reception at the European Policy Centre in Brussels on Wednesday for a policy briefing.
Commenting on Iran’s nuclear activities, Mottaki said Iran is only trying to defend its right to access nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.
But he warned that new sanctions against Iran could lead to confrontation. “There are two options,” to resolve the problem, he stated.
“The first is based on cooperation, the other is based on confrontation.”
According to the NPT, Iran has the right to conduct nuclear activities meant for peaceful purposes, he noted.
He said Iran is opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution sent a message to the nuclear summit in Tehran in April declaring the production and use of nuclear weapons to be haram, which means prohibited in Islam.
He also noted that the U.S. provided fuel for the Tehran nuclear research reactor before the Islamic Revolution.
However, after the revolution, the U.S. stopped selling nuclear fuel to Iran, and the Islamic Republic had to ask Argentina to provide fuel for the reactor, he added.
Iran informed the IAEA that it needed nuclear fuel for the reactor in 2009, but so far no country has offered to provide the fuel, he said.
He went on to say that Iran agreed to exchange some of its low-enriched uranium for 20 percent enriched fuel in a declaration signed by Iran, Turkey, and Brazil on May 17.
Mottaki said that he had a long telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart on May 27 during which the Russian foreign minister expressed support for the Tehran declaration.
But despite the fact that many world leaders, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Arab League have expressed their support for the nuclear swap deal, the UN Security Council adopted a different approach toward the deal by agreeing to the draft of a new sanctions resolution against Iran, he added.
Era of hegemonistic powers is over
Earlier, Foreign Minister Mottaki said that the era of hegemonistic powers is over.
At a dinner reception in Brussels on Tuesday, he stated that these countries must let other nations speak and express their ideas.
The hegemonistic powers believe they have the right to speak and other countries should just be listeners, he added.
U.S. failure in Afghan war due to lack of logic
Commenting on the crisis in Afghanistan, he said the U.S. president asked for Iran’s help to resolve the problems facing the Afghans and Tehran said “yes” to the request, provided that the White House revise its policy.
On the summit on Afghanistan held in London in late January 2010, he said he had predicted that the summit not only would not help Afghans but would also not save Britain’s Labour Party.
He went on to say that some of the countries that attended the summit proposed offering $300 to any Afghan militant who turns in his weapon.
But the proposal was a mistake because an Afghan militant can buy a weapon for $150 and sell it to them at a higher price, which would only exacerbate the situation.
The first and most important reason for the U.S. failure in Afghanistan is not lack of money or weapons but lack of logic, the foreign minister opined.
Iran’s top diplomat stated that instead of using the “power of logic” the U.S. is using the “logic of power” in Afghanistan.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said the difference between Iran’s nuclear summit and the one held in the U.S. was the theme of the summits.
The Tehran conference discussed the total eradication of nuclear weapons while the U.S. summit did not, he noted.
Manouchehr Mottaki made the remarks during a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere in Brussels on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mottaki also warned that governments backing sanctions could scupper Tehran’s proposal to export its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal.
“We believe that moving the resolution through the Security Council is a basis for confrontation. It’s not our preferred option, but that’s up to the other parties,” Mottaki stated.
He advised the United States and its European allies not to torpedo the initiative signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil in Tehran on May 17.
According to the declaration, Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel rods to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.
Cooperation is the best approach
Mottaki briefed Vanackere on Iran’s nuclear activities and called on all countries, and particularly European nations, to support an approach based on cooperation.
He said cooperation can help resolve issues pertaining to nuclear activities and can provide the ground for greater nuclear cooperation among independent countries.
Cooperation also promotes the idea of respecting the rights of signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he stated.
The two foreign ministers also discussed issues of mutual interest as well as regional and international matters and said they were ready to hold talks on human rights, democracy, and the campaigns against terrorism and drug smuggling.
They highlighted the fact that Europe can play a more active role in resolving regional and international crises.
Iran seeking peaceful use of nuclear technology
Foreign Minister Mottaki attended a breakfast reception at the European Policy Centre in Brussels on Wednesday for a policy briefing.
Commenting on Iran’s nuclear activities, Mottaki said Iran is only trying to defend its right to access nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.
But he warned that new sanctions against Iran could lead to confrontation. “There are two options,” to resolve the problem, he stated.
“The first is based on cooperation, the other is based on confrontation.”
According to the NPT, Iran has the right to conduct nuclear activities meant for peaceful purposes, he noted.
He said Iran is opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution sent a message to the nuclear summit in Tehran in April declaring the production and use of nuclear weapons to be haram, which means prohibited in Islam.
He also noted that the U.S. provided fuel for the Tehran nuclear research reactor before the Islamic Revolution.
However, after the revolution, the U.S. stopped selling nuclear fuel to Iran, and the Islamic Republic had to ask Argentina to provide fuel for the reactor, he added.
Iran informed the IAEA that it needed nuclear fuel for the reactor in 2009, but so far no country has offered to provide the fuel, he said.
He went on to say that Iran agreed to exchange some of its low-enriched uranium for 20 percent enriched fuel in a declaration signed by Iran, Turkey, and Brazil on May 17.
Mottaki said that he had a long telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart on May 27 during which the Russian foreign minister expressed support for the Tehran declaration.
But despite the fact that many world leaders, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Arab League have expressed their support for the nuclear swap deal, the UN Security Council adopted a different approach toward the deal by agreeing to the draft of a new sanctions resolution against Iran, he added.
Era of hegemonistic powers is over
Earlier, Foreign Minister Mottaki said that the era of hegemonistic powers is over.
At a dinner reception in Brussels on Tuesday, he stated that these countries must let other nations speak and express their ideas.
The hegemonistic powers believe they have the right to speak and other countries should just be listeners, he added.
U.S. failure in Afghan war due to lack of logic
Commenting on the crisis in Afghanistan, he said the U.S. president asked for Iran’s help to resolve the problems facing the Afghans and Tehran said “yes” to the request, provided that the White House revise its policy.
On the summit on Afghanistan held in London in late January 2010, he said he had predicted that the summit not only would not help Afghans but would also not save Britain’s Labour Party.
He went on to say that some of the countries that attended the summit proposed offering $300 to any Afghan militant who turns in his weapon.
But the proposal was a mistake because an Afghan militant can buy a weapon for $150 and sell it to them at a higher price, which would only exacerbate the situation.
The first and most important reason for the U.S. failure in Afghanistan is not lack of money or weapons but lack of logic, the foreign minister opined.
Iran’s top diplomat stated that instead of using the “power of logic” the U.S. is using the “logic of power” in Afghanistan.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said the difference between Iran’s nuclear summit and the one held in the U.S. was the theme of the summits.
The Tehran conference discussed the total eradication of nuclear weapons while the U.S. summit did not, he noted.
