France Turns Down Iran’s Demand on Nuke Programme
The French Foreign ministry has said that it will not agree to any new demand from Iran over its nuclear programme, a day after an international proposal for resolution of the issue was rejected by the Islamic republic.
In a routine press briefing, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said that if dialogue “needs to be continued” with Iran, there won’t be anything “on technical issues”.
Besides, the ministry emphasized that Iran clearly turned down the plan of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to process more than 70 percent of its stocks of low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad.
Western countries and the UN have enthusiastically backed the plan, while Iran’s delay in responding until after a new IAEA report on its Qom reactor has raised suspicions Iran has more hidden nuclear enrichment sites.
“We will evaluate the consequences of the response with our partners of ‘5+1’ (the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, which has been negotiating with Iran),” Valero said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday that Iran was ready for more talks with world powers and would like to consider a simultaneous exchange of uranium for fuel for a Tehran reactor.
Top diplomats of the “5+1” group are expected to meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss ways to respond to Iran’s refusal to reach a nuclear deal.
