Iran’s UN Ambassador on Negotiations over Nuclear Program
The New York Times has reported that Iranian United Nations ambassador, Mohammed Khazee, announced Monday at a meeting of the UN General Assembly, that six world powers, namely the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, have refused to respond to its proposal “for negotiations without preconditions, aimed at resolving its nuclear stand-off with the West.” One significant component of US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s foreign policy is his declaration that his administration would meet with hostile nations such as Iran without preconditions, which Khazee seems to agree would be more conducive to reaching a solution than imposing a fourth round of UN sanctions. Iran’s counter-offer to western demands for suspension of enrichment work in exchange for economic and political incentives, has not been formally rejected by these six nations, but has simply continued to be ignored. Khazee maintains that western insistence that Iran terminate its uranium enrichment program violates international law, and that these countries have no right to make such a demand. He also continues to insist that Iran has no intention of using its nuclear program to create atomic weapons, and has dismissed the intelligence reports that suggest otherwise as fabricated documents that the Iranian government has never seen. The International Atomic Energy Agency says, however, that they have no reason to believe that Iran is in fact not engaging in the manufacturing of atomic weapons.
Kayla Cahoon
