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Nuclear Deal With IAEA Foils US Plot, Rafsanjani Says
Curses! Foiled again!
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday by signing up to UN snap nuclear checks of its nuclear facilities, Iran showed its atomic ambitions were entirely peaceful.
| Always depending on your definition of "peace," of course... |
âThey (the US) wanted to accuse Iran of having nuclear weapons, but this has foiled their plots,â the influential ex-president told worshipers at Friday prayers in Tehran, broadcast live on state radio.
| Gah! Prunes! My plots have been foiled! |
The United States has said Iranâs nuclear program is a smokescreen for a building atomic weapons. Rafsanjani said Iran, which has always said its nuclear scientists are working on ways to meet booming electricity demand, now expected technical assistance with its atomic program. On Thursday, Iran signed an agreement at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna allowing the UN nuclear watchdog to conduct snap inspections across its territory. The signature to the Additional Protocol to the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty comes nearly 18 months after an exiled Iranian opposition group sparked an international crisis by saying Tehran was hiding several large nuclear facilities. The allegations proved to be true.
Rafsanjani cautioned that full approval for the signature would take time. It must be sent to parliament as a bill then approved by the Guardian Council. Analysts say Iranâs reformist government would never have embarked on the deal without the green light from Il Duce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the last word on all state matters.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-12-20 |
