Iran will not follow Pakistan on Israel

The Daily Times:

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country will not follow Pakistan in making official contact with Israel. READ MORE

In an interview with Lally Weymouth of Washington Post published on Monday, when asked if after official contact between Pakistan and Israel, his government would engage in something similar, he replied, “No, we do not accept the legitimacy of that regime.” In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, the Iranian president delivered what the Washington Post said in a report, was a “sermon” that began by “praising the prophets of Islam, Christianity and Judaism and descended into anti-American vitriol, conspiracy theories and threats. He expressed doubt that the deadly attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001 were really carried out by terrorists. He said Americans had brought the devastation of Hurricane Katrina upon themselves and that the US military was purposely poisoning its own troops in Iraq.’ “There were quotes from the Koran, angry finger pointing and attacks on Israel interlaced with talk of justice and tranquility. There was a staunch defence of Iran’s right to peaceful energy, and to enrich uranium to fuel that programme. There were no new proposals and little detail about old ones that were re-offered.”

The defiant position taken by the new Iranian leader on what the US considers fundamental issues is bound to result in the intensification of American efforts to report Iran to the Security Council, something that is not likely to have European support. Assuming Washington does succeed, in practical terms, it would make little difference as Iran is already under stringent US sanctions and the European countries are not likely to stop trading with the Islamic republic.

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns met with British, German and French officials on Sunday in New York to discuss ways to persuade enough board members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report Iran to the Security Council for imposition of sanctions. India, Russia and China, who are on the IAEA board, are not in favour of such a move.