 | Posted for a look at diplospeak... |
Iran on Tuesday suggested France should lead a consortium to produce enriched uranium on Iranian soil, in a new attempt to ward off the threat of sanctions over its nuclear ambitions. "The best solution to dispel the worries about Iran's nuclear activities is not to demand a suspension" of enrichment, the deputy head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Mohammad Saeedi, told AFP.| I don't speak the language, but I believe that's Farsi for "Up yours." |
"We have an idea that technically and legally is the best solution. It is that France creates a consortium with Eurodif and Areva to carry out enrichment in Iran and thus they can closely monitor our nuclear programme," he added, referring to France's enrichment specialist and its parent company.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been leading talks aimed at persuading Iran to suspend the sensitive nuclear activity, described such French monitoring as "interesting" but in need of further examination. | "I think I need to go lie down now. Can someone bring up some Pepto?" |
"The Iranian proposal for French monitoring of uranium is interesting," Solana told reporters in Finland, adding the suggestion "needs analysis". We have discussed since the very beginning the possibility of a control," he said. "We discussed it lightly before, it may be an idea that can be discussed now more in detail."| France don't look too happy though: |
The French foreign ministry however reacted cooly, describing the proposal as "unexpected" and saying it was still awaiting a response from Iran in its talks with Solana on whether to suspend enrichment. |