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Hard-line Iranian Lawmakers Reject Discussions With European Union on Nuclear Crisis
Members of Iran’s parliament yesterday criticized Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi for allegedly mishandling negotiations with France, Germany and the United Kingdom on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 10). “Why did we surrender to the demands of the Europeans and the West?” asked Akbar Alami, a member of the Majlis Foreign Policy and National Security Commission. “I have even heard that one member of our delegation to the Paris negotiations told the Europeans that Iran would guarantee that it would not leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the Westerners did not take our case to the United Nations Security Council,” he added. “These sort of approaches undermine Iran’s sovereignty,” Alami said. Ali Ahmadi, another conservative deputy, questioned why Iran agreed to allow tougher inspections under the Additional Protocol to the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, even though parliament has not yet ratified that agreement. Kharazi replied that Hassan Rohani, a powerful conservative cleric and head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, maintained ultimate responsibility in the nuclear negotiations. “The nuclear issue in Iran gets special treatment. Dr. Hassan Rohani, a well-known politician, is heading the case, while the Foreign Ministry and the atomic organization are helping him out,” Kharazi said. “The Islamic republic of Iran will never give up its right to peaceful nuclear technology, since we are not seeking production of nuclear weapons,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 10). Thus far, 150 members of parliament have signed a bill mandating that the Islamic republic acquire “peaceful nuclear technology,” National Security and Foreign Policy Commission member Kazem Jalali said yesterday. “According to the draft, the government will have to take action on access to peaceful nuclear technology by using the expertise of domestic scholars, researchers and facilities as well as fulfilling its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency within the framework of the Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” he said, according to IRNA (IRNA, Aug. 10).
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