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28th Mar 2024

West should also disarm, UN nuclear chief says

Turkey can help bring about a result on the Iranian nuclear enrichment issue by mediating between Tehran and the international community, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed El-Baradei said, adding that the west would be more successful if it also lay down its nuclear weapons.

"You have close historical relations with the Middle East and Iran, and you also have close relations with the west and the USA. You are a NATO member. You can understand the position of these countries and have an important role in bringing them to the negotiation table," stressed Mr El-Baradei in an interview on Turkish TV on Thursday (6 July).

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  • Tehran: the west might have better arguments if it wasn't armed to the teeth with nuclear bombs itself (Photo: Wikipedia)

"We should also discuss the international community's concerns over terrorism and human rights with Iran. If we can do this in an early stage and if Turkey can help the parties get closer to a compromise, this will be in the best interests of not only Turkey but also the entire world," he suggested, according to TurkishPress.com.

Mr El-Baradei also noted that he is still optimistic that the issue can be solved. "A lasting and final solution can be found through diplomacy," he said, adding that a solution to the controversy could contribute to settling the issues of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

The US, Russia, France, China and Britain should diminish their nuclear arsenals if they really want to be successful in their efforts however, Mr El-Baradei said, stressing that these countries should ban production of materials used in nuclear weapon production and refrain from underlining the strategic role of nuclear weapons.

An informal meeting between Iran and the EU

At the same time in Brussels, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana met for dinner to discuss the planned talks on an international proposal for Iran, aimed at persuading Tehran to stop its nuclear enrichment program, which the west fear could give them nuclear weapons.

"We are going to continue on Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to getting this process going, [which] we think is going to be beneficial for both sides, for the European Union and many countries of the world and for Iran," Mr Solana told press ahead of the meeting.

"We are serious about continuing negotiations. And we are going to start next Tuesday our talks," Dr Larijani said.

Dr Larijani arrived last night in Madrid where he will meet with Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero today (7 July) to talk further about the situation.

The proposal

Mr Solana met Dr Larijani in the Iranian capital in June, submitting an international compromise package designed to get Iran to stop enriching uranium over weapons fears.

The proposal was put together by the five permanent UN security council members - China, France, Russia, the UK and the US - plus Germany.

It offers Iran direct talks with the US for the first time since 1979 and new reactor technology in return for a suspension of all enrichment activities that could support a weapons programme.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said Iran needed to give "a substantive response" to the offer before leaders of the eight leading industrialised nations - the G8 - meet in St Petersburg on 15 July.

Sanction threats are hovering in the air, but some western diplomats say options are limited if Iran fails to comply because Tehran's role as the world's fourth largest oil exporter means any sanctions could badly backfire.

On Thursday, Russian president Vladimir Putin said it was too early to talk about sanctions against Tehran.

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