Iran - EU officials meet on nuclear issue
Iran-European Union, Politics, 9/27/2006

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said today that the enemies had encouraged former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein to stage the war on Iran.

He said that Iranians have gained remarkable scientific and technological progress in making the country independent. This comes as Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana were meeting and conferred in the German capital this afternoon.

Larijani who arrived in Berlin on Wednesday for talks with Solana on Iran's nuclear program would also hold a meeting with the German Minister of Foreign Affairs frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said addressing the press after a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Giorgos Lillikas that he hoped for a successful result of the Iran nuclear talks which opened in Berlin earlier in the day.

Steinmeier pointed out that the six powers( US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) had agreed on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly that there won't be any bilateral discussions with Iran over its nuclear program.

President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad today referred to the insistence of the US and West on suspension of enrichment by Iran, even for a short time, as propaganda.

The chief executive made the remark while speaking at the 4th conference on forerunners of Jihad and martyrdom. Turning to the fact that enemies are against development and progress of the Iranian nation, he said that such opposition to Iran's access to nuclear technology is a pretext for disruption of Iran's advancement.

He referred to Iran-West nuclear talks over the past two years and said that the enemies called for suspension of Iran's nuclear activities from the beginning.

"Once they faced our refusal, they launched psychological warfare and threatened Iran with a military option.

Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa Tuesday stressed that production of substitute energy through nuclear installations is a natural right of any country.

Iranian Ambassador to Paris Ali Ahani said that Iran's right to peaceful nuclear activities and its assurance for non-deviation from peaceful path to military options are the two topics for which solutions should be sought to end the current deadlock.

He made the remark in an interview with the French state television, Channel 2. Turning to the great significance of President Jacques Chirac's initiative in this regard, he urged that this should be worked on.

Foreign Minister Mottaki on Tuesday urged all parties involved in Iran's peaceful nuclear project to support a negotiated settlement. "With a view to the existing atmosphere of understanding in the talks, one can be optimistic about the outcome of negotiations" between Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani and EU chief negotiator Javier Solana, Mottaki told IRNA.

Winding up his trip to New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly session, the Iranian minister said Tehran "supported the realistic approach that negotiation is the only secure and sound way to settle the issues related to Iran's peaceful nuclear program." Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states, in their annual meeting on Tuesday, supported Iran's inalienable right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The meeting, which was attended by Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, was held on the sidelines of the 61st annual session of the UN General Assembly.

President Ahmadi-Nejad said yesterday night that "Countries of the world will not accept a monopoly by certain powers of nuclear weapons while others are refused access to the nuclear fuel cycle simply because they cannot be trusted and could use this for non-peaceful purposes.

Ahmadi-Nejad added "Nations of the world, including the Iranian nation, will not accept this simplistic argument. The community of states should recognize the rights of all its members."

Previous Stories:
  EU softens on Iranian nuclear program   (9/14/2006)
  Solana, Larijani to meet on nuclear issue   (9/11/2006)
  EU positive on Larijani-Solana meeting   (9/5/2006)

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