Isolated Iran risks same fate as Iraq, Libyan leader says
Published: Tuesday, August 05, 2008
17:11GMT—1:11AM/EST
QADDAFI – IRAN – NUKES
Washington, 5 August (IranVNC)—Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said today that Iran’s refusal to respond to western pressure over its controversial nuclear program “simply stems from arrogance,” Reuters reports.
Qaddafi, who was speaking on the third day of a trip to Tunisia, warned Iran could face the same fate as Iraq if it continued to defy Western powers.
"In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq... Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won't have the means to resist (a military attack) on its own," AFP quotes Qaddafi as saying.
Qaddafi comments come as Iran dismissed a Saturday deadline – imposed by the P5+1 – to announce whether it will agree with international demands to suspend uranium enrichment
Earlier today, an Iranian official in Tehran told Reuters that his country had submitted a written response to the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who represents the six major powers in negotiations with Iran. But he said the response did not address the so-called “freeze for freeze” idea wherein Iran would freeze enrichment as a confidence building step toward negotiations and Western powers would suspend further sanctions in exchange.
In Brussels today, Solana acknowledged the EU had received a letter from Iran but did not provide further details, Reuters reports.
In Tunisia, Qaddafi, whose country faced decades of international isolation over its nuclear and chemical weapons programs before it found common ground with the West in 2003, warned Iran it would fail as a result of international isolation.
"No country will survive on its own in the future -- it will disappear," Reuters quotes Qaddafi as saying. "The challenges facing Iran are greater than its ability to overcome them alone."
Sources: Agence France-Presse, Reuters
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