Khamenei
vows no retreat on Iran nuclear work
AFP/File/Atta Kenare
Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei
By
Siavosh Ghazi
AFP
TEHRAN
Petroleumworld.com
03 15 06
Iran's supreme leader vowed Tuesday there was no going back on
its nuclear programme in the face of heightened US pressure as
Tehran resumed talks with Russia aimed at finding a way out of
the standoff.
"Using nuclear technology is an obligation and a national
demand; any going back in the nuclear field is the same as losing
the country's independence -- which will have a very high price,"
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on state television.
"Any retreat will open the way for a series of endless pressure
and never-ending backdown. The way (chosen by Iran) is with no
return," said the all-powerful supreme leader.
But Iran also announced it had resumed negotiations with Russia
on a compromise proposal aimed at resolving the long-running crisis
over its nuclear work, which the United States claims is a cover
for a weapons program.
Khamenei rejected accusations by the Western countries who have
urged Iran to suspend sensitive nuclear activities due to the
Islamic regime's years of concealment.
"The main motive of the United States and the countries that
follow in its footsteps are to prevent Iran from obtaining its
right to master advanced technology," he said.
"In their propaganda, they say Iran has concealed its nuclear
activities; this is irrational, as no countries announce to the
public the research activities until they succeed... like what
the Islamic Republic of Iran has done."
His comments came a day after Iran's arch foe the United States
renewed economic sanctions first imposed in 1995, as US President
George W. Bush piled on the pressure ahead of the Security Council
meeting expected this week.
Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his country's
nuclear programme and said in a fiery speech "on this path,
retreating by even an iota is meaningless," amid chants of
"Death to America" by the crowd.
"We had the revolution in order not to listen... So I'm telling
you (Westerners), be angry at the Iranian people and you will
die of this anger," he added.
On a visit to Indonesia, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
called for the UN Security Council to send Iran a "very strong"
message, hoping for a tough statement telling Iran to suspend
uranium enrichment and return to negotiations.
Envoys of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States
-- the five veto-wielding, permanent members of the council --
met Monday in New York and were expected to hold more talks Tuesday.
It would be the fourth such meeting since International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed ElBaradei sent an assessment
report on the Iranian nuclear program to the council last Wednesday.
But in an apparent bid to head off any punitive action by the
15-member council, Iran said talks with Russian officials resumed
on Monday on a proposal by Moscow to enrich Iranian uranium on
Russian soil.
A close ally that is helping Iran build its first nuclear power
station, Russia confirmed it had held confidential talks Tuesday
in Moscow with Iran and cautioned the United States against raising
its military presence in the strategic Caspian Sea region, bordering
Iran.
The Security Council, unlike the IAEA, has the authority to impose
punitive measures such as economic sanctions on countries that
fail adequately to answer IAEA questions.
The IAEA wants Iran to halt sensitive uranium enrichment, which
is used in nuclear fuel cycle but can also make the core of an
atomic bomb.
A major buyer of Iranian oil and a permanent Security Council
member, China said Tuesday the crisis over Iran's nuclear program
can still be ended through diplomacy and urged Tehran to keep
talking with Russia over Moscow's compromise proposal.
Russia has reportedly made clear in the talks that it wants to
see the impasse resolved through diplomatic means using the capabilities
of the IAEA.
"During the talks, the Russian side reiterated its attachment
to diplomatic means for resolving the problem using the means
of the IAEA," a spokesman for the Russian Security Council
was quoted as saying.
"The consultations will continue," he added.
The Russian reports spoke only of meetings held Tuesday in Moscow
while earlier Tehran said the talks had begun on Monday.
The Russian delegation in the negotiations was led by Igor Ivanov,
the head of the Security Council, while the Iranian team was led
by Ali Hosseini-Tash, the deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National
Security Council.
"Iran believes negotiation based on international agreements
is the solution to get out of the present situation and accepts
all constructive proposals in this respect," the Council
spokesman Hossein Entezami told AFP.
The latest crisis was sparked when Iran refused to comply with
an IAEA demand to suspend the research activities on enrichment
it had resumed on January 10.
Source
AP
Petroleumworld 03 14 06
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