US reiterates Iran not serious at Geneva talks
Washington, 27 July (IranVNC)—The U.S. said yesterday that Iran did not treat last week’s nuclear talks in Geneva seriously and warned against further stalling by the Islamic Republic in responding to international demands to halt its uranium enrichment work.
By: IranVNC
Published: Sunday, July 27, 2008
11:35GMT—7:35AM/EST
US – IRAN – NUCLEAR – TALKS – ENRICHMENT
Washington, 27 July (IranVNC)—The U.S. said yesterday that Iran did not treat last week’s nuclear talks in Geneva seriously and warned against further stalling by the Islamic Republic in responding to international demands to halt its uranium enrichment work.
Gregory Schulte, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], said yesterday in an interview with Voice of American [VOA] that Iran’s response at the 19 July meeting between EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, plus the six major powers, was a “meandering lesson in Iranian history and culture.”
“We weren’t there for a lesson,” Schulte said, adding that the P5+1 were there “to see if Iran was willing to negotiate seriously.” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made similar comments earlier this week, saying: “People are tired of the Iranians and their stalling tactics,” reports AP.
The six powers offered Iran a package of incentives in exchange for a halt to that country’s uranium enrichment program. They have also presented a “freeze-for-freeze” proposal, under which Iran would freeze its sensitive nuclear work and the United Nations would not pass additional sanctions against Iran, during a six-week negotiations period.
But Iranian officials have refused to suspend the uranium enrichment work, calling the issue a “red line” that the West should not cross.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday that his country has increased the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to between 5,000 and 6,000, a major expansion of the country’s nuclear program, which the West fears Iran is using to develop nuclear weapons.
AFP reports Ahmadinejad as saying on state radio that Western powers have agreed that Iran can keep and continue work on its “existing” 5,000 to 6,000 centrifuges.
He also called the US presence at Geneva a “success” for Iran. “They said a few years ago that talks without a US participation has no results and the US condition is suspending enrichment, but it has happened today without satisfying the US condition,” Ahmadinejad said.
Schulte said that Under Secretary of State William Burns’ presence at Geneva was not a shift in US policy, but rather a “strong signal” that Washington supported the incentives package.
Schulte further warned Iran against buying time, given the upcoming US presidential elections this November. Cautioning Iran of further sanctions if it stalls, he said the next administration “is not going to look favorably at an Iran that has spent six more months violating [United Nations] Security Council resolutions.”
However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hassan Qashqavi, told reporters today that even though Iran welcomes the nuclear talks, “if a country insists on imposing its views, there will be no point in talking,” the Fars News Agency reports. “Any new sanctions will signal the end of negotiations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator and current Majlis [parliament] speaker, Ali Larijani, criticized what he called a “propaganda fuss” made by the international media following the Geneva meeting.
“There is no logical cohesion between the Geneva talks and the hue and cry after them,” Larijani was reported by IRIB News as saying today. He suggested that the six powers and Iran find a “third way” between the 5+1 offer and Iran’s own proposal, which it presented to the UN in May.
Schulte said that the 5+1 offer addresses some of the security issues that Iran has raised, and would allow for cooperation “in areas of common interest”, such as combating narcotics trade.
Sources: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News, Voice of America, Fars News Agency, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
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