Posted on 09/18/2005 2:13:01 AM PDT by nickcarraway
UNITED NATIONS: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear on Thursday that Iran should not acquire nuclear weapons, a US official said after the leader’s talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Singh said that India ‘doesn’t wish Iran to become a nuclear state,’ US Undersecretary for political affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters. ‘We are gratified by what we’ve heard,’ Burns said after the talks on the sidelines of a UN Summit. India has come under attack in the US Congress over its growing energy and other economic cooperation with Iran, and has been accused of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian energy programme.
Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh had angered US legislators over what they saw as anti-US remarks when he held talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week.
Questioning India’s motives, some US legislators warned that if New Delhi did not support any bid by Washington to refer Iran to the Security Council, the administration of President George W Bush should freeze its landmark agreement to expand nuclear cooperation with India. The nuclear pact, which could only be implemented after Congress amended certain US laws, is part of a bold strategic partnership announced by Bush after talks with Singh in July.
The US and European powers have warned they will push for Iran’s nuclear case to be sent to the Security Council - which could impose sanctions - if Tehran does not halt all nuclear fuel work and resume negotiations with the European Union. Bush expressed concern over Iran’s nuclear programme in talks with Singh and Chinese leader Hu Jintao this week.
A US spokesman said on Friday the United States has ‘broad agreement’ from both developed and developing countries that international pressure must be brought to bear on Iran to stop nuclear fuel work that could be weapons-related. “We’re finding broad agreement throughout the international community that Iran should re-suspend its sensitive nuclear fuel cycle activities and cooperate fully with the (UN nuclear watchdog) IAEA,” spokesman Matthew Boland told reporters in Vienna.
Iran to propose N-deal at the GA: Iran is to propose a compromise deal which would see foreign countries including Russia and China co-operating in its nuclear programme to ensure it is not used to make weapons, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will put the proposal to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed senior Iranian officials. Ahmadinejad is trying to avert referral of Tehran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
“Iran will suggest international co-operation for uranium enrichment,” the British newspaper quoted a senior official as saying. “(It will) invite Europe, Russia, China and South Africa to joint ventures in which Iran keeps its nuclear fuel cycle while the international community can make sure there is no diversion.” The United States and European Union fear Iran is developing nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian atomic programme. Tehran denies the charge, saying it only wants to generate nuclear power for electricity.
The Financial Times report said it was unclear whether the proposed international joint ventures would include all of Iran’s nuclear sites. The report gave no more details of the proposal. Ahmadinejad alarmed the EU and United States on Thursday by offering to share its atomic know-how with other Islamic nations in the Middle East and Africa. A vote on sending Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council may be taken at a meeting of the IAEA board on Sept 19. agencies
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