Iran leader to US: Give nod to nuke swap deal
Source: Agencies |
May 27, 2010, Thursday
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IRAN'S president yesterday urged Barack Obama to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal, warning the United States leader will miss a historic opportunity for improved cooperation from Tehran if the offer is rejected.
The remarks came just a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tehran's offer - submitted on Monday to the United Nations nuclear watchdog - was inadequate and did not address international concerns about Iran's atomic ambitions.
Washington has denounced the Iranian proposal, brokered last week by Brazil and Turkey, as an attempt by Tehran to avoid a new round of UN sanctions over its controversial nuclear program, which the West fears is geared toward nuclear weapons.
"There are people in the world who want to pit Mr Obama against the Iranian nation and bring him to the point of no return, where the path to his friendship with Iran will be blocked forever," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Kerman, southern Iran.
Ahmadinejad also issued a stern warning to Russia, saying Moscow's support for the US-led push for new UN sanctions against Iran was contrary to the two countries' neighborly and friendly ties.
Iran proposed last week to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for nuclear fuel rods needed for a Tehran medical research reactor. The swap would diminish Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium that can possibly be used in making atomic bombs, if the uranium is enriched to a higher, weapons-grade level.
But the proposal did not deter the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - the five permanent Security Council members - from agreeing on a draft fourth set of sanctions against Iran for refusing to completely halt uranium enrichment, as demanded by the UN.
Tehran's offer is similar to a UN-drafted plan that Washington and its allies last year pressed Iran to accept, but which it then rejected.
Accept this offer
"If they (US and its allies) are truthful when they say they seek cooperation... they should accept this offer," Ahmadinejad said. "But if they seek excuses, they should know that the path to any interaction will be closed.
"Mr Obama must know that this proposal is a historic opportunity ... (Obama should) know that if this opportunity is lost, I doubt the Iranian nation will give a new chance."
Like the UN-backed plan, Tehran's proposal would commit Iran to shipping 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium for storage abroad - in this case to Turkey. In exchange, Iran would get the higher-enriched uranium fuel rods within one year.
Although it seems to be a significant concession, Iran is believed to have more nuclear material stockpiled since the International Atomic Energy Agency first made the proposal last October. The figure is estimated at about 2,500kg of low enriched uranium.
The remarks came just a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tehran's offer - submitted on Monday to the United Nations nuclear watchdog - was inadequate and did not address international concerns about Iran's atomic ambitions.
Washington has denounced the Iranian proposal, brokered last week by Brazil and Turkey, as an attempt by Tehran to avoid a new round of UN sanctions over its controversial nuclear program, which the West fears is geared toward nuclear weapons.
"There are people in the world who want to pit Mr Obama against the Iranian nation and bring him to the point of no return, where the path to his friendship with Iran will be blocked forever," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Kerman, southern Iran.
Ahmadinejad also issued a stern warning to Russia, saying Moscow's support for the US-led push for new UN sanctions against Iran was contrary to the two countries' neighborly and friendly ties.
Iran proposed last week to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for nuclear fuel rods needed for a Tehran medical research reactor. The swap would diminish Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium that can possibly be used in making atomic bombs, if the uranium is enriched to a higher, weapons-grade level.
But the proposal did not deter the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - the five permanent Security Council members - from agreeing on a draft fourth set of sanctions against Iran for refusing to completely halt uranium enrichment, as demanded by the UN.
Tehran's offer is similar to a UN-drafted plan that Washington and its allies last year pressed Iran to accept, but which it then rejected.
Accept this offer
"If they (US and its allies) are truthful when they say they seek cooperation... they should accept this offer," Ahmadinejad said. "But if they seek excuses, they should know that the path to any interaction will be closed.
"Mr Obama must know that this proposal is a historic opportunity ... (Obama should) know that if this opportunity is lost, I doubt the Iranian nation will give a new chance."
Like the UN-backed plan, Tehran's proposal would commit Iran to shipping 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium for storage abroad - in this case to Turkey. In exchange, Iran would get the higher-enriched uranium fuel rods within one year.
Although it seems to be a significant concession, Iran is believed to have more nuclear material stockpiled since the International Atomic Energy Agency first made the proposal last October. The figure is estimated at about 2,500kg of low enriched uranium.
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