|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Iran Says Ready to Compromise on Nuclear Issue
A top Iranian official announced today that Tehran was prepared to accept a proposed Russian nuclear compromise if four outstanding issues can be resolved, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 22). “We are ready to compromise,” said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. “We believe that we should move from here to compromise, not go back.” Mottaki said four issues, including which countries and firms would be involved in enriching uranium in Russia on Iran’s behalf, must still be resolved. “If you ask me, the main element is timing and place or places,” he said. China, meanwhile, announced that Vice Foreign Minister Li Guozheng would travel to Tehran on Friday for three days of consultations on the issue. “We will discuss how to resolve this issue ... properly through dialogue and consultation,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (Chris Brummitt, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23). Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he remains hopeful that Iran will accept Moscow’s uranium enrichment offer, AP reported. “The talks are not going easily but we are counting on reaching a positive result,” Putin said. “We are not losing optimism.” A Russian nuclear official said the European Union, Russia and the United States had reached a consensus that Tehran cannot possess a domestic uranium enrichment program. If Iran does not accept Russia’s offer, Russia would support action by the U.N. Security Council against Tehran, the official said. The official warned, however, that Iran has no fear of sanctions because officials there believe a ban on Iranian oil supplies would send global oil prices soaring (Aida Sultanova, Associated Press II, Feb. 23). Elsewhere, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Carter administration national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski yesterday called on the United States to negotiate with Iran, AP reported. Brzezinski criticized the Bush administration for staying out of the negotiations and advocated establishing a multilateral forum like the one being used in North Korea nuclear disarmament efforts. “We have an important opportunity to solve this if we work together,” Fischer said. “Europe is not strong enough” (Barry Schweid, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
