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Iran Willing to Offer Nuclear Aid to Islamic States
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that his country is willing to share nuclear technology with other Islamic nations, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 15). Ahmadinejad made the offer during talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan while at the U.N. summit in New York, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/Borneo Bulletin, Sept. 15). The United States was quick to denounce Ahmadinejad’s statement, the Associated Press reported. Due to Iran’s record of “trying to develop weapons of mass destruction, supporting terror, we view with concern any suggestion that Iran would seek to contribute to very destabilizing and unhelpful international behavior,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli. The United States and allied nations are working “resolutely and with common cause to prevent Iran from developing the kind of capabilities that would prove so destabilizing for the region and for the world as a whole,” he continued. “Remarks or reported remarks such as this I think just serve to underscore the importance and the urgency of acting together to confront this threat” (Associated Press, Sept. 15). Meanwhile, a plan by the European Union and United States to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council is losing steam, the Associated Press reported. Instead, the countries are considering setting a deadline of several weeks for Iran to meet demands that would reduce concerns about its nuclear program, according to AP. “It would not be a change in policy but a change in timing,” said a European official in Vienna. An International Atomic Energy Agency resolution to send the matter to the Security Council would have “only a slim majority,” the official added. The EU nations continue to support Iran’s referral to the Security Council, said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “The question is how much support can you bring that is non-European support,” she said. Diplomats said European support for referral was less firm than portrayed by Rice. Some countries, including Italy, Spain and Portugal, are publicly questioning the authority of France, the United Kingdom and Germany to negotiate for the European Union, according to AP. An IAEA diplomat said high-level talks are taking place between Iran and EU countries on concessions Tehran was prepared to make to avoid referral to the Security Council (George Jahn, Associated Press/Macon Telegraph, Sept. 15). Back in New York, foreign ministers from the EU-3 met yesterday with their Iranian counterpart and later with Ahmadinejad, Agence France-Presse reported. “We had a very thorough exchange of the different positions of the EU-3 and the new government of Iran,” said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. “We're going to listen carefully to what the president has to say and we'll take it from there,” he added, referring to a speech tomorrow in which Ahmadinejad is set to offer a new proposal on the nuclear issue. This was the first talk between the parties since May 25. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who attended the meeting with Ahmadinejad, said that no negotiations took place. “We have only prepared the ground. If it is possible to continue? … it's not clear yet. We have to wait until the speech” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 16). An Iranian official discussed the content of the speech, according to the Financial Times. “Iran will suggest international cooperation for uranium enrichment, and invite Europe, Russia, China and South Africa to joint ventures in which Iran keeps its nuclear fuel cycle while the international community can make sure there is no diversion,” said a senior official involved in negotiations. “The cooperation is not necessarily for new (nuclear) sites — it can be in the sites we already have,” said Ali Agha Mohammadi, a spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. European diplomats questioned whether their governments would accept the proposal, according to the Times. The Times also reported that the compromise offer could impair the push by the United States and the European Union to refer Iran to the Security Council (Blitz/Bozorgmehr/Dinmore/Dombey/Smyth, Financial Times, Sept. 16).
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