Iran president letter not meant for nuclear issue
Iran-USA, Politics, 5/9/2006

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi today said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to his US counterpart, President George W. Bush did not aim to influence the country's nuclear issue.

He said that the government does not intend to use the letter in favor of the nuclear case, given that there are sufficient legal reasons in this regard.
Asefi noted that it is just a mere coincidence that Ahmadinejad's letter was delivered while the country's nuclear dossier is high on the agenda.

"Once the time arrives to reveal the letter's content and it is officially released, the public can make a better judgment about it. "It is quite normal that questions are raised on the issue. However, we should wait until Bush reads the letter and declares his country's official approach. According to ethics, the receiver of the letter should be the first individual to express his view about it," he added.

The White House spokesman Scott McClellan said today that the letter appears to be more about trying to change the subject on the nuclear issue adding " Let me remind you what the Secretary of State said yesterday, what I said yesterday. This letter does nothing at all to address the concerns of the international community, or that the international community has regarding the regime's nuclear program."

The Foreign Ministry spokesman referred to the reaction of the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as unofficial.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today before leaving to Indonesia that "We will wait to see what would be the reaction of the other side and then we will make the decision," Ahmadinejad said.
"Fortunately, we have no problem when it comes to making decisions," Ahamdinejad added.

This comes as Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Larijani today said at a meeting with Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodora Bakoyannis said there was still room to solve the nuclear issue peacefully and within the confines of the International Atomic Agency Agency (IAEA).

"Iran's nuclear dossier was reported in haste to the UN Security Council by a number of parties desiring to create problems and thus a wrong decisions were made in this respect," he added.

The SNSC secretary suggested to Europe to break free from its policy of trying to create obstacles in the path to resolve the Iran nuclear issue considering that in the past 20 years it has already launched four major wars in the region.
Saying Iran will stay committed to all decisions taken by the IAEA within the framework of the NPT, Larijani stressed that peaceful use of nuclear energy was the inalienable right of the Iranian people.

Meantime, Larijani had expressed Iran's opposition to direct talks with the US saying the "US should first correct its attitude."

"We have called for peaceful settlement of our (nuclear) case but the US has had confusing policies toward us," he added.

Asked about US talks with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, he said "support for terrorism will hurt regional security. If the US is against terrorism, why did it hold talks with the PKK in Iraq's Kirkuk and Mosul cities?" The PKK is in the list of "terrorist organizations" of the US and Europe.

"It seems the US is seeking trouble in the region and is using the campaign for human rights, democracy and the war on terror as tools to expand its dominance." He said there was no doubt US behavior in the region was mainly to blame for the hatred of Muslim peoples against this country.

Previous Stories:
  US another try at consensus on anti-Iran resolution   (5/8/2006)
  Iran president letter to Bush on prophet's birthday   (5/8/2006)
  Ahmadinejad: Iran would change policy in sanctions are ever adopted   (5/5/2006)
  Iran-US talks on Iraq essential: Iraqi MP   (5/2/2006)

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