WEEKLY BRIEFING WITH HAMID-REZA ASEFI,
FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN
IRANIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
June 18, 2006
Excerpts
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Sunday expressed hope for talks with Europe without any preconditions. He made the above remark in response to a question about the extent to which Iran hopes to start talks with EU3 on its nuclear issue without any preset conditions, given the West`s proposal for suspension of uranium enrichment by Iran as a precondition.
Asefi said that the conditions to be offered should be reasonable, adding that Iran has formerly suspended the enrichment process.
He underlined that Iran will not give up its right to access nuclear energy, adding that in his belief, talks should be based on mutual respect and compliance with norms.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that it is impossible to set a precondition for talks without considering the views of the negotiators.
He warned those involved in Iran`s nuclear issue against changing it into a matter of prestige. "It is rather a rational issue, given that we have a right based on logic and believe that it should be accepted by Europe. Europe should not think that its respects for our rights will be a violation of its prestige. On the contrary, if Europeans respect our reasonable international rights, this will raise their own reputation," he added.
Concerning the outcome of the visit of the Secretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani to Egypt, he said that the outcome of his talks with President Hosni Mubarak and other Egyptian officials was positive. "A positive atmosphere dominated the talks and Egypt supported our nuclear stance. We believe that this will even have a positive effect on bilateral ties," added Asefi.
Iran has set up various committees to study Europe`s package of incentives offered by the Group 5+1 on its nuclear case, said a senior Iranian official.
"The committees are made up of colleagues at Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and a number of members of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). They are reviewing the proposals," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi at his weekly press conference.
Early this month European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Iran to hand over a package of incentives to Tehran, prepared by the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council -- Russia, China, Britain, France and the United States -- plus Germany to convince it to give up its uranium enrichment activities and resume talks to settle the dispute over its nuclear program.
"The committees are following up the case seriously and meticulously. The Islamic Republic of Iran will announce its views on Europe`s proposed package as soon as the committees come to a summing-up in this regard," he added.
The spokesman stressed the importance of negotiations as the "only right path" to settle the ongoing standoff, saying, "Negotiations should be open and with no preconditions. Preconditions will limit the framework of talks and prevent achieving results."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Sunday said that talks with the US is not on Iran`s agenda for the time being. He made the remark in this week`s briefing in response to a question about the proposal of the Leader of the United Iraqi Alliance and Leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) Abdul Aziz Hakim for Iran-US talks over Iraq and the report of a media claiming that such talks are about to start in Germany.
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About the outcome of the recent meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he referred to the fact that Iran`s nuclear issue is actually being examined by two international bodies and said, "Iran has called for settlement of the matter and its return to the Board of Governors, where it should be assessed. We believe that legally the view of the IAEA Board of Governors on the issue should be take into consideration."
Asefi said that at the recent meeting of the board, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member states declared their strong support for Iran. "The international consensus to defend Iran is now clear to the world."
Meanwhile, the US has been cornered. "The recent Board of Governors meeting just focused on IAEA chief`s report, given that representatives of various countries, including some of US allies, did not agree with it. Many complained about the lengthy process of examination of Iran`s nuclear issue, which is a simple and obvious case," added the spokesman.
Asefi said that Iran will use its diplomatic capacities to solve the issue, adding that the country`s determination to continue its sincere, clear and honest cooperation with the agency has been declared.
Iran on Sunday said it would not resume a new round of international talks with preconditions over its nuclear program. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi made the remark while addressing domestic and foreign reporters at his weekly press conference.
"I am not supposed to speak about content of the proposed package of incentives offered to Iran by the European side. In my opinion, negotiations will be the right path. Of course, there should be no preconditions. We can reach acceptable results through talks," Asefi said.
Early this month European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Iran to hand over a package of incentives to Tehran, prepared by the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council -- Russia, China, Britain, France and the United States -- plus Germany to convince it to give up its uranium enrichment activities and resume talks to settle the dispute over its nuclear program.
"Preconditions will limit the framework of talks and prevent us from achieving results."
He expressed his regret over performance of few countries which refer Iran`s nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council hastily, saying, "It was an illegal, incorrect and fruitless measure. We think resumption of talks will be the right path which should be put on agenda."
Pointing to diplomatic efforts made by Iran during the past days,
the spokesman assessed as "good" the visit by Secretary of
Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani to three Islamic
states of Yemen, Algeria and Egypt and said, "We praise the stance
of the three states on supporting Iran`s right.
(Larijani`s) visit helped in promotion of ties (between Iran and the three
countries) particularly Egypt."
He added a visit by the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to Spain was another step taken within framework of talks with the Europeans to explore avenues for resolving a standoff over Iran`s nuclear case.
Referring to telephone conversations held between Solana and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Larijani, Asefi said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran outlined its viewpoints and stance and announced that the dispute will be settled just through negotiations."
"During the talks," he added, "Iran expressed regret over the US dual and contradictory attitude which has led to more ambiguities. We once again told the Europeans that the case should be followed up through negotiations to achieve Iran`s support. We should take this path."
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Asked about remarks by the Iranian foreign minister Saturday that
Iran would give a transparent response to Europe`s package of incentives,
he said, `The response will be transparent both for the European side
and public opinion in Iran.