Sounds hilarious, but Iran says that it will give EU one 'last chance' to save atomic deal

Iran said on May 16, 2005 it will give the European Union a last chance to salvage a nuclear deal at talks on May 23, 2005 before it resumes atomic work which Washington fears is part of a weapons program. Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told the official IRNA news agency that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani would meet the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany on May 23 to try to reach an 11th-hour compromise.

Pro-Democracy Iranians protest in Geneva against negotiations with the Mullah regime of Iran. The Days are numbered for the Mullah regime. The Mullahs should not get comfortable, as President Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan has said Pakistan is considering handing over centrifuges to the International Atomic Energy Agency as part of a probe into Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, which officials believe was aided by a Pakistani nuclear scientist.

Photo credits: Det News

____________________________

Iran said on Monday (May 16) it will give the European Union a last chance to salvage a nuclear deal at talks on May 23 before it resumes atomic work which Washington fears is part of a weapons program.

Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told the official IRNA news agency that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani would meet the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany on May 23 to try to reach an 11th-hour compromise.

"The venue for negotiations has not been determined yet," he said, but senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian told the Iran News daily that the meeting would be in Brussels.

Iranian officials have been negotiating with the EU trio to try to allay fears that Tehran is seeking nuclear arms.

The Europeans last year won Iran's assurance that it would suspend its nuclear fuel cycle activities for as long as talks went on.

But Iran has become frustrated with the talks and said it would restart making nuclear fuel, an action that would marshal the Europeans behind U.S. attempts to haul Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

But Iran said it would give ministerial level talks one last shot before announcing the return to making atomic fuel.

Iran has a track record of pushing talks to crisis point before clinching a deal at high-level international meetings.

Many political analysts speculate that Iran is unlikely to spark a full blown international crisis before its presidential elections next month.

Pakistan May Cooperate in Iran Nuke Probe Meanwhile President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan is considering handing over centrifuges to the International Atomic Energy Agency as part of a probe into Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, which officials believe was aided by a Pakistani nuclear scientist.

Musharraf said the nuclear watchdog has asked Pakistan to supply the centrifuges to check whether traces of uranium found on nuclear equipment in Iran originated in Pakistan.

"We are thinking about it. Negotiations are going on. We will see," Musharraf said in an interview with Pakistan's Aaj television station that aired Thursday. "But, we told them that if we do it, this will be the end of it."

Earlier this month, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed acknowledged Khan had given Iran centrifuges but insisted that the government had no role in the transfer.

Iran is suspected of pursuing a nuclear weapons program and is under pressure by the United States, France, Britain and Germany to abandon uranium enrichment, believed to be a key step in building a nuclear bomb.

Iran says its program is aimed at generating power.

Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium — a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors that generate electricity but also make material suitable for atomic warheads.

Musharraf's comments came more than a week after the Foreign Ministry denied that IAEA has asked for the sophisticated equipment, saying Pakistan will not comply even if a request is made.

Story Credits: Fox News and ABC News and Reuters

__________________________________________________

Discuss this article