PRESS BRIEFING BY SEYED MOHAMMED ALI HOSSEINI, FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN
IRANIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
December 9, 2007
Excerpts
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Referring to the latest round of talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and his EU counterpart, Javier Solana, the spokesman said on issues such as nuclear activities Iran adopted "principled policies which were stressed in Jalili-Solana meeting."
The two met for five hours in London on December 1st.
Commenting on a comment attributed to Jalili that he was not faithful to Larijani`s commitments, the spokesman said, "On the contrary, it was the other side (Solana) who openly expressed disagreements during the London talks to ideas mentioned in previous sessions."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini dismissed the recent allegations by Robert Gates saying such remarks are "interference in domestic affairs of the regional states."
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates defended Israel's nuclear program on Saturday, saying the Jewish state did not seek to destroy its neighbors or support terrorism.
Asked at the Manama Dialogue conference whether he thought Israel's nuclear programme posed a threat to the region, Gates replied: "No, I do not."
"Such remarks have targeted the regional solidarity," Hosseini told reporters during his weekly press briefing.
However he added that such measures could not result in disintegration of the regional states.
Asked about absence of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at Manama confab, he said, "Mr Mottaki had planned to attend the conference but due to his intensive works in Tehran, he could not participate in the gathering."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini termed some parts of the recent US report on Iran`s nuclear program as "incorrect."
He said, "What is mentioned in the report on Iran`s nuclear activities before 2003 is incorrect, wrong and unreal."
A report released on December 3 by the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), said Iran had halted its atomic weapons program in 2003.
Unlike what was claimed by the 16 US intelligence bodies, Iran has never pursued a program to develop nuclear weapons and the reports released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed that the country has had no deviation from its peaceful nuclear activities, Hosseini reiterated.
"Resistance of the Iranian nation and government took the other side to a point where it confessed to some realities and facts and that is a great victory," he added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said the recent US report on Iran's nuclear program proves that Washington has lied both to the American nation and world peoples.
The report released by the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) "has distorted the truth according to which Washington has taken Iran's peaceful nuclear issue to the UN Security Council," he told reporters.
"Today, more than any other time, the US administration is less reliable and its decisions are less creditable," he added.
The report has reiterated that the current process of Iran's nuclear activities are fully peaceful, he said, adding that the US can no more use the pretexts on the basis of which it sent Iran's peaceful nuclear case to the UN Security Council.
On Iran-IAEA cooperation, he said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its cooperation with the agency."
Such cooperation must have impacts on the Group 5+1 approach, he added.
"If Iran's cooperation is ignored and certain countries try to issue a new resolution against Iran, the issue will have negative impact on the executive process of modality plan," Hosseini noted.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini stressed on Sunday that the White House should be accountable for mistakes it made by referring the issue of Iran peaceful nuclear program to the UN Security Council.
He made the remarks at his weekly press conference while commenting on a report about Iran's nuclear program released by the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on December 3.
The NIE report, provided by 16 US security foundations, acknowledged that Iran has not been pursuing a nuclear weapons development program.
The foundations stressed that they "do not assume that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons."
The release of the NIE report followed by "a new wave of protests from some countries to US urging Washington to respond in this connection," Hosseini said.
The report contradicted White House claims that Iran was determined to develop nuclear weapons.
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