Saturday, April 16, 2005

EU-US coordination on Iran's nuclear issue not welcome: negotiator

People.com.cn:
A top Iranian nuclear negotiator said Saturday that Iran would not welcome coordination on Iran's nuclear issue between the European Union (EU) and the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported. READ MORE

"Iran is in no way going to pay for coordination Europe is making with other countries," Sirous Nasseri, head of Iran's nuclear negotiation team with Europe, was quoted as saying.

"Iran is not against any coordination of this kind, but Iran's partner in nuclear negotiations is Europe, not the United States," Nasseri said.

The negotiator also voiced Iran's optimism that Washington would not make an incautious decision to attack Iran since the Islamic Republic is capable to defend itself and wields influence in the region.

"The United States thought it was the most powerful country in the world when it started to threaten Iran two years ago, but it has by now come to realize the reality better by understanding the scope of Iran's influence on regional development, especially in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon," he said.

"Such a condition makes the United States wise enough and not to think of attacking Iran because if it does so, it will receive heavy damage itself," Nasseri added. ...