Iran: No N-talks if sanctioned
Iran will reject talks on its nuclear programme if slapped with new sanctions, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday as the UN Security Council geared up for fresh talks on a fourth sanctions resolution.
“I have said that the US 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,” the Iranian leader told a news conference here.
“We will talk to everyone if there is respect and fairness but if someone wants to talk to us rudely and in a domineering manner the response is known already,” he added.
His warning came as the UN Security Council was to hold new closed-door consultations on Tuesday on the new sanctions against the Islamic Republic after its 15 members failed to reach a consensus on a meeting on Monday.
The council’s five council permanent members — Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States — are co-sponsoring the sanctions draft and believe they have the votes to secure its passage.
“The sponsors are aiming for adoption on Wednesday,” a Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Monday.
Mr Ahmadinejad, who is in Turkey for the summit of an Asian security grouping, urged Western powers not to dismiss a nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil last month.
The deal “was an opportunity for the US government and its allies...I hope they will put this to good use. Opportunities will not be repeated,” he warned.
Tehran was still waiting for a response from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the deal, he added.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said on Monday that his agency was waiting for official responses from the United States, France and Russia to the deal.
Diplomats close to the Vienna-based watchdog have said the so-called Vienna group of countries had drawn up a joint response to Tehran’s proposal.
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