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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran seeks Bosnia's support on nuclear row
2010-04-27
SARAJEVO - Iran's foreign minister lobbied U.N. Security Council member Bosnia on Monday for support in its row with the West over its nuclear programme, but a Bosnian leader said his country's interests lay with Europe.
Smart man. The Bosnians are among the most civil of the Muslims, and while some fair proportion of them got radicalized during their civil war, most understand that the Mad Mullahs™ have nothing for them but trouble.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Bosnia on his way back from Vienna, where he failed to make any headway in talks with the U.N. atomic watchdog chief on a stalled nuclear fuel offer designed to ease tensions with the West. Mottaki also used the visit to talk to non-permanent U.N. Security Council members Austria and Bosnia about new a U.N. draft resolution on sanctions against Iran.

“All 10 Security Council non-permanent members should play their roles responsibly and make decisions in a democratic atmosphere,' Mottaki told a news conference in Sarajevo. “In this way, they can prevent the intentions of some Security Council members to impose their opinions and stop the dictatorship in the Council,' he said through an interpreter.

“If we succeed to win political agreement from all involved parties about the exchange of nuclear fuel, then we can propose different mechanisms for the realisation of this project,' he said.

“Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, needs to be informed about everything that is happening on the regional and international stage,' Mottaki said. “Being informed will help Bosnia-Herzegovina to actively and constructively act in the Security Council on the principles of justice.'

But in a statement after meeting Mottaki, the chairman of Bosnia's tripartite inter-ethnic presidency, Haris Silajdzic, said Bosnia's strategic goal was membership of the European Union and NATO and that would affect its Council vote.

“Our country must consider these strategic interests that matter to its security and the security of its citizens when it makes decisions at international forums, including the U.N. Security Council,' Silajdzic said in a statement.

Silajdzic said Bosnia, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Profileration Treaty, fully supported the work and decisions of the IAEA.

Iran supported Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-95 war and relations between the two countries have been warm. An Iranian economic delegation will arrive in Sarajevo on Tuesday.
Posted by:Steve White

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