MOSCOW - Iran's top nuclear negotiator pursued talks with Russian officials Saturday amid reports he may meet with President Vladimir Putin, a move that would suggest a strong Russian diplomatic push to get Iran to shift its position on its nuclear program.
Ali Larijani said Friday after meeting Russian officials that Tehran would push ahead with its controversial nuclear program, and suggested it could break off ties with the U.N. nuclear watchdog if the world inflicts punishments proposed by European nations.
In a familiar mix of threats and offers, Ali Larijani said Iran wanted negotiations to ease the mounting standoff over fears it is seeking nuclear weapons, but that it would not abandon what he insisted was a peaceful nuclear energy program.
After Friday's talks between Larijani and Igor Ivanov, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, they opened another round of talks Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported. The ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies reported that Putin might also receive Larijani.
Moscow is seeking to revive its proposal to move Iran's uranium enrichment work to Russian soil to assuage international concerns that Iran could use the process to develop weapons. Larijani said Friday that the proposal remains on the table, but there was no evidence of movement toward Iranian acceptance.
"We want to use our rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and in this context there will be no retreat, but we are ready for negotiations," Larijani said Friday. He said Iran was prepared to renew negotiations with the European Union's top diplomat, Javier Solana, or to hold talks "in any other format," according to Russian news agencies.
The European draft resolution that would impose U.N. sanctions on Iran "will not promote a political solution of the problem," Larijani said. "Those who support adopting the resolution want to aggravate the problems of the region."
Larijani's talks in Moscow on Friday stretched on for more than five and a half hours.
With Russia calling for major changes that would water down the proposed sanctions, the visit appeared to highlight divisions among the five permanent Security Council members over how to deal with Iran's refusal to halt its enrichment program.
In comments that dovetailed with Russia's warnings that too much pressure could deepen Iran's defiance, Larijani warned that Tehran would reconsider its ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency if the council adopted the European proposal.
"We will reconsider relations with the IAEA if the United Nations passes the ... resolution ignoring Russia's amendments," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying. Iran has repeatedly threatened to respond to sanctions by blocking IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities.
While they recently agreed in principle on sanctions, both Russia and China have continued to publicly push for dialogue instead of U.N. punishment, despite the collapse last month of a European Union attempt to entice Iran into talks. Both countries have major commercial ties with Iran and can veto U.N. Security Council resolutions as permanent members.
The five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany offered Iran a package of economic incentives and political rewards in June if it agreed to freeze its uranium enrichment effort. But Tehran has said it would continue enrichment, a process that is central to both civilian power generation and the production of nuclear weapons.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty allows for peaceful nuclear power programs, but Iran's activities and its secrecy have led to fears it is seeking nuclear weapons. Larijani insisted that was not the case, saying that "nuclear weapons have no place in our defense doctrine," Russian news agencies reported.
The European draft resolution would order all countries to ban the supply of material and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, measures that could damage Russia's nuclear and arms-industry ties with Tehran.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий