| And check out the pic of Mahmoud in the 'Kerry' bunny suit. |
A resolution involving the International Atomic Energy Agency could avert U.N. Security Council sanctions against the Islamic republic. Still, Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, insisted his country could endure international sanctions for the sake of their nuclear program. "The Iranian people have chosen their own way and they can withstand problems and secure their own interests," he was quoted by Iranian state television as saying after talks with China's deputy foreign minister, Lu Guozheng, over the nuclear issue.
Moscow is struggling to persuade Tehran to return to a moratorium on uranium enrichment and agree to shift its enrichment program to Russian territory to ease world concerns it could divert enriched uranium to a weapons program. Kiriyenko, who met Saturday with Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh, suggested Tehran must act to assure the world it is not seeking nuclear weapons.
He stressed that Iran has the right to a peaceful nuclear program but also said that "the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is unacceptable and the international community must be certain that it does not occur under any circumstances," ITAR-Tass reported.
"It is no doubt possible to satisfy these two demands," it quoted him as saying.
Kiriyenko made the comments at a news conference with Iranian Economy Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari. Iranian media did not carry his comments.