Posted on 11/30/2004 12:19:09 PM PST by Pikamax
Iran Boasts of Victory Over U.S. on Nuclear Case Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:34 PM ET
By Paul Hughes TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran boasted on Tuesday it had defeated U.S. efforts to send its nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council while warning that its uranium enrichment freeze would only last for a few months.
"The Americans have been calling for Iran to be reported to the Security Council for a year and a half, now the whole world has turned down America's calls," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani told a news conference.
"Despite the U.S. propaganda Iran has not relinquished its right to the (nuclear) fuel cycle and it never will do," said the cleric, who is secretary-general of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council.
His comments appeared to undermine European Union efforts to persuade Tehran to permanently mothball enrichment facilities -- which can be used to make atomic reactor fuel or nuclear bombs -- and were likely to fuel U.S. concerns that Iran secretly plans to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is solely for electricity generation, on Monday escaped possible U.N. sanctions after agreeing to suspend all uranium processing and enrichment activities.
The EU hopes Iran will make the suspension permanent in return for trade deals and other incentives. But Tehran says the suspension is a voluntary and temporary measure designed to gain international trust.
"The length of the suspension will only be for the length of the negotiations with the Europeans and ... must be rational and not too long," Rohani said.
"We're talking about months, not years," he added.
The United States, which already has a ban on trade and investment with Iran, OPEC's second biggest oil producer, has voiced skepticism Iran will stick to the nuclear freeze and says it may take Iran's case to the Security Council on its own.
POSITIVE SIGN
Western diplomats have expressed growing frustration with Iran, which reneged on a similar suspension six months ago and wrangled over each step of negotiations on the current freeze.
But Rohani said Iran's talks with the EU over the nuclear issue were a positive sign to the world.
"This is a historical opportunity for Iran and Europe to prove to the world that unilateralism is condemned, that the world's most complicated matters can be solved by negotiation."
"Negotiations with Europe will be complicated, it won't be easy and will have lots of ups and downs," he added, warning: "If the Europeans do not show honesty, we will leave the talks."
"Europe wants objective guarantees that our enrichment activities won't be diverted to making weapons. How to implement this guarantee will be the most difficult part of the negotiations," he said.
The Iran-EU talks are due to resume on Dec. 15, by which time the two sides must resolve a dispute over 20 enrichment centrifuges which Iran wanted to exempt from the freeze.
Iran says it will not use the centrifuges to enrich uranium -- a process which can make atomic reactor fuel or bomb-grade material. But it wants to use them for other tests and research.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said Iran's nuclear freeze meant talks would resume on a trade and cooperation agreement. The talks have been on hold for more than a year due to the nuclear issue.
Rohani said the world had nothing to fear from Iran's nuclear facilities. "If we had wanted to make a nuclear bomb we would have made one in the last 20 years," he said. (Additional reporting by Amir Paivar and Christian Oliver)
Successful popular uprisings are mostly fantasy anyway.
Iran's threshold for victory seems pretty low:
"America didn't kick our ass! We win! WE WIN!!"
Unfortunately.
It'll be an Iranian weapon delivered by terrorists.
Everyone will know it, but Iran will deny it.
Iran has thrown the gauntlet. Time to lock n load. These idiots understand nothing better than death. Time for these leaders to experience it first hand. They are playing the appologist EU and UN for all they are worth (ooooo big surprise). I just can't figure out who is stupider, the Iranians, or the Appeasers. Or is it the lava-lampman?
Smile for the birdie..........
all they need to do is wait a decade, all the while getting bennies for sitting on their reactors while threatening to restart them. Then hope for a DemocRAT victory in 2008 or 2012. See North Korea, Lessons Learned From the 90's - William J. Clinton, coming soon to Bamtam Books.
It seems that Iran is banking on the fact that the US has expended all of its international clout on the invasion of Iraq.
It's going to be a long year for Iran.
APf
Still, they should know better. Are they that stupid or, have we finally found a purpose for MSM?
Sounds like a case for the Mossad!
"This is a historical opportunity for Iran and Europe to prove to the world that unilateralism is condemned, that the world's most complicated matters can be solved by negotiation."
From the Iranians
"Despite the U.S. propaganda Iran has not relinquished its right to the (nuclear) fuel cycle and it never will do," said the cleric, who is secretary-general of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council.
"The length of the suspension will only be for the length of the negotiations with the Europeans and ... must be rational and not too long," Rohani said.
"We're talking about months, not years," he added.
Is it me, or are these people having a completely different conversation. The Iranians are stating quite clearly they are going to restart their program and the Europeans are refusing to acknowledge anything they say. I believe that the EU wants Iran to have some nukes in their ongoing effort to destabilize US foreign policy.
On Fox News yesterday, it was said that these gas centrifuges emit a huge amount of RF interference that whose signature can be detected and pinpointed from satellites. The guest on Fox said up to 12 centrifuges are up and operating simultaneously in various locations in Iran after the government there said they shut down enrichment as per the agreement with the EU. Iran just suckered the EU into providing more fuel to be used against them some time in the future! It also proved Iran is lying its @$$ off. Everyone known once they have nukes, they will use them, even if it means glorious martyrdom for all their citizens in a nuclear retaliation.
They should be concerned. The US doesn't mind having to shoulder the responsibility for the security of our friends and allies. They should be very concerned...
Unfortunately the mullahs now feel and talk as if they are on the saddle.
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