Iran’s former top nuclear negotiator yesterday said Tehran would participate in new discussions on its nuclear activities if Western powers show more flexibility in their demands, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 14).
(Oct. 15) -
Former Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani encouraged Western states yesterday to enter new talks on Tehran’s nuclear program (Behrouz Mehri/Getty Images).
The five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany have offered political and financial incentives in hopes of persuading Iran to halt nuclear activities that could support bomb-making efforts. Iran has refused to suspend uranium enrichment operations, insisting its intent is strictly peaceful; Western powers have responded by leading the drive for new economic penalties against the Middle Eastern state.
Ali Larijani, now the speaker for Iran’s parliament, said a recent Security Council resolution affirming the body’s past sanctions on Iran represents "the outdated tactics of carrot and stick, and it doesn't produce a result."
“We have never left the table,” said Larijani, a possible challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in elections scheduled for June 2009. “They were the ones who have left the negotiating table."
Larijani refused to discuss how the next U.S. presidential administration could affect the nuclear discussions (Frank Jordans, Associated Press/Google News, Oct. 14).
He said, though, that Tehran was not offended by Republican candidate John McCain’s threat in song to bomb his country, the Canadian Press reported.
During a 2007 primary-season stop in South Carolina, the Arizona senator was asked when the United States would take military action against Iran.
McCain responded with a reference to the song “Barbara Ann,” but changed the words.
“That old Beach Boys song, 'Bomb Iran,’” the candidate said, before briefly breaking into song: "Bomb-bomb-bomb ....”
"We don't have any objection to them singing a song," Larijani said (Canadian Press/Google News, Oct. 14).
Meanwhile, Australia today placed new economic penalties on Iran, Kyodo News reported.
"The sanctions are targeted against 20 Iranian individuals and 18 organizations which contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, or otherwise assist Iran to violate its Security Council obligations," Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement, noting that the penalties would also address Iran’s Bank Melli and Bank Saderat (Kyodo News/BreitBart, Oct. 15).
Russia today spoke out against moves by various countries to independently penalize Iran over its nuclear activities, Agence France-Presse reported.
Moscow believes that the "politics of adopting unilateral and anti-Iranian sanctions espoused by some countries is counterproductive," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said, noting that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had voiced the same sentiment in a meeting with U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Oct. 15).