Iran opts for nuke diplomacy

2008-08-03 21:21

Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that diplomacy was the only way out of his country's stand-off with the West regarding its disputed nuclear programme and that he was serious about negotiations.

Iran's leader made the comments a day after asserting that his country would not give up its "nuclear rights", signalling that it won't accept demands to stop enriching uranium or at least not to expand its enrichment work.

An informal deadline expired at the weekend for Tehran to respond to an offer of economic and other incentives by six world powers if it agreed to curb uranium enrichment.

The United States and its European allies fear Iran intends to use the technology to develop material for nuclear weapons under the cloak of a civilian nuclear power programme. Iran denies the accusation.

Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that his country's participation in any international talks would "be aimed at reinforcing" what Iran regarded as its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for a civilian power programme.

On Sunday, the Iranian leader repeated that his country was "serious in nuclear talks" and hopes "the other side" will be as well.

Syria's president, Bashar Assad, visited Iran at the weekend, but played down any expectations that he could persuade Syria's close ally to meet Western demands.

During a visit to Paris in mid-July, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Assad to step in and persuade Iran to offer proof that it had no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

Syrian presidential visit a regular one

"I am not mediating and I don't carry any message from any Western country," Assad told reporters before returning to Damascus. "The media has exaggerated in describing the aims of the visit."

Syria is Iran's closest Arab ally - a legacy of its support for Iran during its war with Iraq in the 1980s - and Assad's visit was his sixth since 2000.

He said the visit was a regular one, not for mediating in Iran's nuclear issue. However, he said they discussed the stand-off.

"There is a Syrian role to consolidate the dialogue between Tehran and the West without affecting Iran's right to develop its nuclear program," Assad said.

Assad also met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's state radio reported.

Iran's claims that it wants nuclear technology only for the production of energy have failed to quell Western suspicions that it is seeking a pathway to an atomic bomb.

Tehran was given an informal two-week deadline, set July 19 by the Security Council's permanent members plus Germany, to stop expanding uranium enrichment - at least temporarily - in exchange for their commitment to stop seeking new United Nations sanctions.

Could be solved diplomatically

The Security Council has slapped three sets of sanctions on Iran because of its enrichment and reprocessing of uranium.

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday that the US would have no choice "but to begin again to prepare sanctions resolutions for the (UN) Security Council" if Iran did not halt the development of its enrichment programme.

She also said President George W Bush strongly believed the dispute could be resolved through diplomacy rather than a military confrontation.

- AP