Obama tells Iran not to stall on nuclear demands
Washington, 25 July (IranVNC)—US presidential hopeful Barack Obama urged Iran today to accept an offer of incentives offered by six major powers in return for that country’s suspension of uranium enrichment, even as Iran and Russia dismissed calls for a deadline for Tehran’s response.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, July 25, 2008
17:12GMT—1:12PM/EST
OBAMA – IRAN – NUCLEAR
Washington, 25 July (IranVNC)—US presidential hopeful Barack Obama urged Iran today to accept an offer of incentives offered by six major powers in return for that country’s suspension of uranium enrichment, even as Iran and Russia dismissed calls for a deadline for Tehran’s response.
“Iran should accept the proposals that President [Nicolas] Sarkozy and the EU 3 plus 3 are presenting now. Don’t wait for the next [US] president because the pressure, I think, is only going to build,” Obama said today during a joint news conference with French President Sarkozy in Paris, reports Reuters.
The EU 3 – France, the UK, and Germany – plus the U.S., China and Russia, offered Iran a package of trade and technical incentives aimed at ending the longstanding nuclear dispute. But Iranian officials have repeatedly said that the country would not halt its uranium enrichment work, calling it their “indisputable right”.
Powerful Iranian political figure Ayatollah Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads the Expediency Council and Assembly of Experts, today rejected calls for a deadline for Iran’s response. The deadline was agreed to by the six powers after they met with EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, on 19 July in Geneva.
“We agreed to negotiate … Why then do you issue ultimatums and set a two-week deadline? Iran is ready to go to the negotiation [table],” Rafsanjani was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying. He then accused “the hardliners in Israel and America” of undermining the efforts aimed at resolving the nuclear row.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also expressed doubt yesterday with regards to the need for a deadline. “There should be no artificial limits, either in the sense of some kind of deadline, like ‘tomorrow or never’, or in the endless dragging out of the process,” AFP cited Interfax news agency.
Sources: Reuters, Agence France-Presse
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