Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
Photo: Reuters
Iran pitches new nuclear program to Western powers
Iran proposes package inducing UN to allow nuclear fuel production in order to fight 'common security threats' such as terrorism. Asks steps be taken towards democratic solution for Palestinians
Iran's
proposal for negotiations with world powers urges cooperation to stabilize the Middle East but makes clear Tehran would not give up nuclear activity as the UN has demanded.
Diplomats who saw the proposal said it ignored global concerns about Iran's uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to atom bombs, and so was likely to be of little use in defusing the Islamic Republic's standoff with major powers.
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Iran's ambassador to the European Union, who handed the proposal to EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, said in Brussels on Wednesday that it had taken "a wider approach, beyond the nuclear issue".
Entitled "The Islamic Republic of Iran's Proposed Package for Constructive Negotiations", the proposal emerged as six big powers were finalizing revisions to a batch of incentives to Iran not to pursue enrichment, which they plan to present shortly.
Iran's package called for "establishing enrichment and nuclear fuel production consortiums in different parts of the world, including in Iran," and better access to peaceful nuclear technology for "all states", a reference to developing nations. The country billed its plan as an all-encompassing approach to tackling "regional and global problems and challenges".
Its proposals dwelled on cooperation in fighting "common security threats", citing terrorism, militarism, narcotics and organized crime; alleviating poverty and inequality; fostering trade and investment; and sharing of energy for development. It said steps should focus on the Middle East, where there should be "a sustainable, democratic and fair" solution for the Palestinians.
In a May 13 cover letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran's approach was "a strategic one" with "important initiatives" spanning political, security, economic and nuclear fields.
He urged those concerned to "deal with it constructively". In an allusion to sanctions, Mottaki warned big powers against resorting further "to two-track approaches that combine intimidation and negotiation (which) not only will not help resolve issues but indeed further complicate the situation".
However a senior Western diplomat, echoing others, said Iran's proposal covered "familiar ground. It doesn't represent a change in the Iranian position. There's no shift on substance." He said there was increasing concern among UN nuclear inspectors about tests and other research in Iran that appeared to have been linked to a covert nuclear weapons program.
