Ex-foreign minister Velayati supports nuclear talks
Published: Tuesday, July 01, 2008
16:01GMT—12:01PM/EST
IRAN – NUCLEAR – TALKS – VELAYATI
Washington, 1 July (IranVNC)—A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Iran should agree to talks with the international community over its disputed nuclear program, an Iranian newspaper reported today.
In an interview with the conservative daily Jomhouri-ye Eslami newspaper, Ali Akbar Velayati said that international cooperation and diplomacy were “very important tools” for Iran to “realize its [nuclear] right”.
“We must welcome international cooperation. International cooperation is one of our most important means to achieve our rights. In order to realize our rights, we must not withdraw from the international scene,” said Velayati, who is the foreign affairs advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Also today, 201 of the 287 members of Iran’s Majlis [parliament] signed a statement saying that talks with the 5+1 countries would be “a suitable opportunity” to resolve problems, as long as those countries did not cross the “red line” of demanding enrichment suspension.
Velayati said it was “in our [Iran’s] interests” to accept to negotiate with the 5+1 group – which is comprised of the United States, France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and Germany – but he ruled out any pre-conditions for the talks.
His comments came on the heels of a statement by the major powers in which they called on Iran to respond by 5 July to a package of political and economic incentives that aims to persuade Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
The 5+1 powers suspect Iran of trying to master the technology to make nuclear weapons, but Iran says it aims only to generate civilian nuclear power.
Velayati also told the newspaper that although Europe and the United States were both working toward the same goal, the Europeans wanted talks, while the Americans did not.
“If the Americans wanted to convince us to negotiate, they would have waited for Mr. [Javier] Solana to return from Tehran and to give his report,” he said, referring to comments made by US President George W. Bush soon after EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented the incentives package to Iran.
Velayati explained that Iran must accept to negotiate in order to counter efforts by the U.S., along with Israel, who he said want to convince the world that Iran does not want to cooperate with the international community and that it was against holding talks.
But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has repeatedly said she would meet her Iranian counterpart “anytime, anywhere” if Tehran suspends its enrichment activities.
One voice
Velayati also told the daily that Iran needed to present a united front to the world on its nuclear program, and discouraged “provocative” speeches – an apparent criticism of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is known for being outspoken on the issue.
“Officials and political experts… must avoid making remarks and illogical and provocative slogans. The 5+1counts each word and slogan. We must be more calculated when we speak,” he said, without naming any official in particular.
“Suffice it to say that some words create problems for us,” he added.
Source: Jomhouri-ye Eslami Newspaper, Iran Majlis website
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