Iran Nuclear NewsIran must cease all uranium reprocessing: Rice

Iran must cease all uranium reprocessing: Rice

-

AFP: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Iran must stop all uranium reprocessing activities in order to head off further UN sanctions. OSLO, April 26, 2007 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Iran must stop all uranium reprocessing activities in order to head off further UN sanctions.

Rice reiterated an offer by the United States and its major power allies of trade and political incentives for Iran as well as the start of direct negotiations if Tehran accepted UN demands to stop uranium enrichment.

“The only condition for beginning those discussions … is that Iran suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities,” Rice said during a visit to Oslo for talks with NATO and Russian foreign ministers.

Rice’s comments appeared to rule out a mooted compromise under which Iran could pledge not to expand its current reprocessing activity without actually halting the work.

“What we can’t have is Iran practising enrichment and reprocessing, because that’s what they’re doing — you get better at it over time — at the same time that we’re in negotiations,” she said.

Speaking as top European and Iranian negotiators met in Turkey on the nuclear issue, Rice said the guiding principle for any contacts with Tehran had to be “suspension for suspension.”

“That means that we would be prepared to withhold further action in the UN Security Council if Iran is prepared to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing,” she said.

Iran says it wants to enrich uranium to fuel nuclear power plants, while the United States and its allies believe the Islamic Republic is bent on producing highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

Rice said Iran had proven it could not be trusted on the issue by hiding its enrichment efforts from international inspectors for nearly 20 years.

“There is no confidence about Iran’s intentions here, they appear to be moving toward a nuclear weapon,” she said.

Rice spoke shortly after Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani said talks Thursday in Ankara with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had brought the two sides closer to a “united view” on ending the crisis.

The talks were the first face-to-face meetings between Larijani and Solana, who represents the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, since a second round of limited UN sanctions on Iran in March.

More talks are scheduled in two weeks.

Diplomats had said earlier that the six world powers were ready to compromise and give Iran a face-saving chance to edge its way slowly into stopping uranium enrichment.

One diplomat said a new idea would be for Iran to declare a moratorium on moving beyond enrichment activities it has already started.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

Germany’s Steinmeier says allies agree on Iran draft

Bloomberg: United Nations allies meeting in Berlin agreed on...

Iran Government’s Serious and Incurable Crises

Over the past years Iran’s incurable crises have led...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you