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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran rejects "medieval" Russian offer |
| 2006-02-04 |
| ran rejected a Russian compromise deal aimed at resolving the crisis over its suspect nuclear programme yesterday, dashing hopes for a face-saving outcome to its confrontation with the west. As the UN nuclear watchdog finalised a decision to report Iran to the UN security council last night, Javad Vaeedi, the deputy head of Iran's national security council, said the US and European countries were making a "historic mistake". An emergency meeting of the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to adopt a resolution reporting Iran to the security council this morning. The decision marks a watershed in the three-year dispute. The Iranians were scheduled to go to Moscow in two weeks to discuss a proposal for Russian manufacture and guaranteed supplies of nuclear fuel for Iran. "If they adopt this resolution, it means to kill the Russian proposal," said Mr Vaeedi. The decision to take the dispute to New York raises the stakes in the long-running row and heightens the sense of escalating confrontation between a hardline regime in Tehran and the international community united for the first time about how to channel its anxiety over Iran's nuclear programmes. Reacting furiously, the Iranians also announced they would be restricting UN inspection rights of their nuclear programme and restarting enrichment of uranium at their complex at Natanz. Senior IAEA officials said Tehran had already told the Russians they were calling off the talks with Moscow. The Russian proposal was the best hope of defusing the worsening crisis but appeared dead last night, with the war of words raging between Iran and the west extending to involve bad-tempered exchanges between Tehran and Moscow. The president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, accused Russia of patronising Iran and treating it like a "medieval country". The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Iran should not insult Russia's attempts to perform as an honest broker. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 But remember they want nuclear power for peacefull purposes. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-02-04 10:54 |
| #4 I guess Medieval is too advanced for their Dark Ages society. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2006-02-04 10:23 |
| #3 I am pretty sure when and if the Russian's make a real "Medieval" offer to the MM's they will have no problems understanding it and will not go "public" about it either. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-04 07:28 |
| #2 so they had nuclear power and weapons in medieval times then eh? |
| Posted by: ShepUK 2006-02-04 06:04 |
| #1 We'll write the history on this one, Mullahmooks. |
| Posted by: Flimble Jitle8716 2006-02-04 01:39 |