ID :
130583
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 12:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/130583
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Nuclear negotiations should be purposeful: Iran
TEHRAN, June 30 (MNA) – Nuclear negotiations should be purposeful and not be used as a tool to blackmail Iran, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday.
Iran will continue talks with the West over its nuclear program based on new terms proposed by the country’s president on Monday, Mottaki said during a press conference held at the office of Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
President Ahmadinejad said on Monday that nuclear talks with the 5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) cannot begin until the major powers revise their stance toward Israel’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, agree to include other countries in the nuclear talks, and agree to changes to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Asked about Iran’s letters to the UN Security Council, Mottaki said Tehran has sent letters to the 15 members of the council on the recent sanctions resolution against the country.
He also called sanctions a kind of “psychological warfare” against Iran, saying the council should respond as to why it issued a sanctions resolution while there are 20 reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency that no diversion has been noticed in Iran’s nuclear activities.
On the difference between talks with the Vienna group (the U.S., Russia and France and the IAEA) and the 5+1 group, Mottaki said the Vienna talks is about fuel exchange and talks with the 5+1 group is about common points mentioned in packages of nuclear proposals presented by each side.
He noted that Tehran is preparing an official response to the questions asked by the Vienna group about the Tehran nuclear deal.
Based on the Tehran nuclear decleration signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil on May 17, 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.
On the production of 20-percent enriched uranium, he said, “We produce it when we need it, and will stop production when we don’t.”
In February Iran started enriching uranium to a purity of 20 percent to power the Tehran medical reactor as the West failed to provide nuclear fuel for the reactor.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Mottaki criticized the Security Council for its indifference toward the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid convoy.
He censured the council members for their silence and the fact that they did not take any action in response to this obvious crime in which Israel killed innocent people in international waters.
On the U.S. abduction of Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri from Saudi Arabia, Mottaki noted that it is clear that the U.S. lied in that regard.
Washington first claimed that it was not aware of the issue, but it was later revealed that Amiri was being kept in the U.S., he added.
Iran will continue its efforts, through its embassy in Saudi Arabia, its interests section in Washington and other channels, so that Amiri can return to the country safely, the minister explained.
Amiri was abducted in Saudi Arabia last year while on a Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia had originally expressed total unawareness about the matter. He later sent a video message confirming his abduction as an attempt to use him as a bargaining chip against Iran in nuclear negotiations.
Iran will continue talks with the West over its nuclear program based on new terms proposed by the country’s president on Monday, Mottaki said during a press conference held at the office of Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
President Ahmadinejad said on Monday that nuclear talks with the 5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) cannot begin until the major powers revise their stance toward Israel’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, agree to include other countries in the nuclear talks, and agree to changes to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Asked about Iran’s letters to the UN Security Council, Mottaki said Tehran has sent letters to the 15 members of the council on the recent sanctions resolution against the country.
He also called sanctions a kind of “psychological warfare” against Iran, saying the council should respond as to why it issued a sanctions resolution while there are 20 reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency that no diversion has been noticed in Iran’s nuclear activities.
On the difference between talks with the Vienna group (the U.S., Russia and France and the IAEA) and the 5+1 group, Mottaki said the Vienna talks is about fuel exchange and talks with the 5+1 group is about common points mentioned in packages of nuclear proposals presented by each side.
He noted that Tehran is preparing an official response to the questions asked by the Vienna group about the Tehran nuclear deal.
Based on the Tehran nuclear decleration signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil on May 17, 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.
On the production of 20-percent enriched uranium, he said, “We produce it when we need it, and will stop production when we don’t.”
In February Iran started enriching uranium to a purity of 20 percent to power the Tehran medical reactor as the West failed to provide nuclear fuel for the reactor.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Mottaki criticized the Security Council for its indifference toward the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid convoy.
He censured the council members for their silence and the fact that they did not take any action in response to this obvious crime in which Israel killed innocent people in international waters.
On the U.S. abduction of Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri from Saudi Arabia, Mottaki noted that it is clear that the U.S. lied in that regard.
Washington first claimed that it was not aware of the issue, but it was later revealed that Amiri was being kept in the U.S., he added.
Iran will continue its efforts, through its embassy in Saudi Arabia, its interests section in Washington and other channels, so that Amiri can return to the country safely, the minister explained.
Amiri was abducted in Saudi Arabia last year while on a Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia had originally expressed total unawareness about the matter. He later sent a video message confirming his abduction as an attempt to use him as a bargaining chip against Iran in nuclear negotiations.
