Iran Not Ready To Give Up On Nuclear Enrichment -Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said his country will not give up the right to enriching uranium, in his first comments since talks broke down with world powers over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Rouhani said on Sunday that his nation had acted rationally and tactfully during three days of nuclear negotiations in Geneva, which concluded on Saturday without agreement.
“We have said to the negotiating sides that we will not answer to any threat, sanction, humiliation or discrimination. The Islamic Republic has not and will not bow its head to threats from any authority,” he said in a speech at the National Assembly.
The comments came a day after France apparently thwarted a deal that could have relaxed sanctions on Iran in return for concessions on its nuclear policy.
“For us there are red lines that cannot be crossed,” Rouhani said. “National interests are our red lines that include our rights under the framework of international regulations and enrichment in Iran.”
Diplomats from US, UK, France, China, Russia, Germany and the EU – were searching for a preliminary agreement that would restrain Iran’s nuclear programme and make it more transparent for UN anti-proliferation inspectors.
The main points appeared to include calls for the shutdown of the Arak nuclear reactor, southeast of Tehran, the fate of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and the nature and sequencing of relief from sanctions sought by Tehran.
Prospects for an agreement dimmed after France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, raised objections to a draft to which his country had previously agreed.
Fabius spoke of “several points that … we’re not satisfied with compared to the initial text,” telling France-Inter Radio his nation did not want to be part of a “con game”.
Diplomats at the talks said the last-minute objections came as a surprise. Talks will resume on November 20 but will will involve lower-level officials – an indication of the prospects of a deal.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, said after the talks that Washington remained “determined to make certain” Iran did not acquire a nuclear weapon.
While Kerry expressed optimism that a deal would be struck in the coming weeks, he also said that the window for a diplomatic solution would not be open “indefinitely”.
Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows it to enrich uranium for use in civilian reactors.
However, Western powers remain concerned that Iran is continuing to amass enriched uranium not for future nuclear power stations, but as potential material for nuclear warheads.
Iran’s economy has been badly damaged by sanctions imposed by Western powers over its nuclear programme, with high inflation, poor export markets and a double-digit unemployment rate.
US politicians are currently preparing a new package of sanctions against Tehran, the content of which will be debated in Congress in the coming week