Hostage-Taking Claims Will Not Affect Iranian Nuclear Negotiations, EU Officials Say

Allegations that Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad played a role in the 1979 hostage-taking of Americans will not affect EU negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program, British and Germany officials said yesterday (see GSN, July 1).

“I'm aware of the reports. We have not been able to reach any conclusive view about this, and we may not be able to. The Iranian government has not validated the reports,” said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at a press conference with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. “Our negotiations have been with the government of Iran. We reached certain agreements in May and have undertaken to put proposals to the government of Iran by the end of July or the first week of August. That remains our intention.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday said the allegations against Ahmadinejad “are so evidently false that they don't deserve an answer. It's clear that it's mere lies” (Thomas Wagner, Associated Press/ABC News, July 4). 

Asefi added that Iran would reject any proposal made by the European Union that does not recognize Tehran’s “right” to nuclear technology, Agence France-Presse reported Sunday.

“We hope this [EU] proposal will have our right to use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,” said Asefi. “Otherwise we will not accept such a plan.”

Iranian officials also denied that Hassan Rohani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, had quit due to Ahmadinejad’s election (Agence France-Presse I/SpaceWar.com, July 3).

Russia, France and Germany were expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear program at a meeting Sunday in Kaliningrad.

“A discussion on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly as far as the Iranian nuclear program is concerned, is expected in Kaliningrad,” said a Kremlin official (Agence France-Presse II/SpaceDaily.com, July 3).

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