Iran Defiant in Face of United US, EU Approach
Sunday, March 20, 2005 at 08:06PM
TheSpook
Iran defiantly insisted on Saturday it
would never give up its nuclear fuel program despite a new united
policy of incentives and threats from Washington and the European
Union. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to use peaceful
nuclear technology and no pressure, intimidation or threat can make
Iran give up its right," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi
said. Tehran says its nuclear facilities will only be used to generate
electricity and never diverted to weapons production. The EU and
Washington, which suspect Iran could use its nuclear power program to
make atomic bombs, unveiled a coordinated carrot and stick approach
Friday aimed at pressuring Tehran to give up sensitive activities like
uranium enrichment which can be used to make bomb-grade fuel. Iran has
frozen enrichment while it tries to reach a negotiated settlement about
its nuclear program with the EU big three Britain, Germany and France.
While the EU trio said they would back U.S. demands to send Iran's case
to the U.N. Security Council if it resumed enrichment, Washington, in a
policy shift, offered practical backing for the EU's diplomatic
approach. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington would
allow Iran to begin talks on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and would consider letting it buy civilian airline parts if it ceased
all activities that could produce fuel for nuclear power plants or
atomic weapons. WTO membership and aircraft spares are key incentives
which the EU hopes will persuade Iran to scrap enrichment plans. The EU
was unable to deliver these inducements without U.S. support. Iran
dismissed the incentives as meaningless. Asefi said U.S. restrictions
on the sale of aircraft spares to Iran should never have been imposed. [
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