Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Iran urges talks as deadline nears
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 21, 2007
VIENNA - Iran's chief nuclear envoy said Tuesday his country wants to negotiate over its uranium enrichment program, on the eve of a U.N. Security Council deadline that carries the threat of harsher sanctions. The country's hard-line president, however, said Iran will halt enrichment only if Western nations do the same. Sanctions could be triggered by a report from Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, to his agency's 35 board-member nations, expected today. That report is expected to say Iran has expanded enrichment activities instead of freezing them. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking to a crowd of thousands in Iran, said his country was ready to stop its enrichment program, but only if Western nations do the same - something the United States and others with similar programs are unlikely to even consider. The White House dismissed Ahmadinejad's call. "Do you believe that's a serious offer?" White House press secretary Tony Snow asked. Iran's call for talks - voiced separately on Tuesday by Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and senior nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani - suggested an attempt to convey flexibility. Mottaki, in Turkey, said talks on the nuclear dispute should try to achieve an agreement allowing "Iran to achieve its rights" while eliminating "concerns" about its nuclear ambitions. Larijani, in Vienna, said his country was "looking for ways and means to start negotiations." The United States and its allies suspect that Iran is using its nuclear program to produce an atomic weapon, which Iran denies, saying its aim is to generate electricity. Tehran's refusal to freeze all its enrichment-related activities prompted the U.N. Security Council on Dec. 23 to impose sanctions targeting its nuclear and missile programs. It gave Iran 60 days to halt enrichment or face additional measures.
[Last modified February 21, 2007, 01:01:59]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor