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Iran Presents Response to European Nuclear Deal
Iran last night submitted its response to a European package of incentives aimed at persuading Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment work, a French Foreign Ministry official said today without offering details, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 11). “We are in the process of analyzing the elements of the response,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Nov. 12). Iranian negotiators Thursday had sought “clarifications” on the offer from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the Washington Post reported. The economic and political offers are believed to include a light-water nuclear reactor. The Iranian questions were “highly technical,” a European envoy said. Officials from the three EU nations told the Post they hoped an agreement could come during the weekend (Robin Wright, Washington Post, Nov. 12). The International Atomic Energy Agency is delaying submitting a report on Iran’s nuclear work to its Board of Governors in hopes that an agreement would be confirmed that it could note in the document. The agency previously hoped to distribute the report today, Reuters reported. “I know for a fact that the people responsible for the report had all they have to say (ready) a few days ago,” a Western diplomat said. A more positive report is expected to aid Iran’s efforts to avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Nov. 12). Iran would “resist” unfair demands and inadequate incentives, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today, according to AFP. The European powers “have told us to stop our nuclear program and in return they will sell us commercial jets and trains,” said Ali Akbar Nateq Nuri. “This is an idiotic and childish thing. “Fortunately, the opinion polls show that 75 to 80 percent of Iranians want to resist, and that we continue our program and reject humiliation,” Nateq Nuri added (Siavosh Ghazi, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 12). Meanwhile, a bill has reportedly been presented in Iran’s parliament to ban the manufacture of nuclear weapons. One Iranian member of parliament called the proposal by several of his colleagues “naive,” according to the Iranian Jomhuri-ye Eslami newspaper. “In my opinion, presenting such a draft bill is neither necessary nor expedient,” said Hojjat ol-Eslam val Moslemin Mohammad Taqi Rahbar. “It is unnecessary because our problem with the world of arrogance is not in such issues. The hegemonistic powers and the veteran politicians of the world have … become emboldened because of our defensive attitude in some cases and want to deprive our great nation from a legitimate and legal right” to a peaceful nuclear program (Jomhuri-ye Eslami/BBC Monitoring). Elsewhere, British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Washington yesterday for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush that are expected to include Iran’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (Deb Riechmann, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 12).
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