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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Warnings, fulminations from Iran |
| 2010-06-10 |
| Ahmadinejad has angrily warned that negotiations with Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany on his country's nuclear program would be terminated if the sanctions were passed. "I have said that the U.S. government and its allies are mistaken if they think they can brandish the stick of resolution and then sit down to talk with us, such a thing will not happen," Ahmadinejad said. Among those subject to the new travel restrictions are Javad Rahiqi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran's Isfahan nuclear technology center. According to the text, 22 of the entities are linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, 15 are "owned, controlled, or acting on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps" and three are controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. The western campaign was boosted by getting Russia and China onboard. But Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose country has strong economic ties with Tehran, pressed for tempered sanctions. "Sanctions are basically ineffective," Putin told AFP in an interview late Monday, adding Moscow was working with other countries to ease concerns over Iran's nuclear program. "We are ready, together with the entire international community, to seek a resolution to Iranian nuclear problems and we will move down this path together," Putin said. Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, also stressed that Washington remained "committed to the dual-track approach" of pressure through sanctions coupled with negotiations." Ahmadinejad, however, urged Western powers not to dismiss the deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil last month, which he described as an opportunity that should be "put to good use." "Opportunities will not be repeated," he warned. Under the plan, Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for high-enriched uranium fuel for a Tehran research reactor that would be supplied later by Russia and France. Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, the United States, France and Russia formally replied to the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iran's proposals for the nuclear fuel swap. The three had proposed in October that they take most of Iran's low-enriched uranium (LEU) and turn it into the much-needed fuel for a reactor which makes radioisotopes for medical use. Tehran rejected that plan. |
| Posted by:Fred |