Iran rejects EU’s "candy" incentives
Iran rejects EU’s "candy" incentives
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In his own words: It's all or nothing, but that's what we've been expecting all along. |  |
Wednesday, 17, May 2006 09:57
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has snubbed a potential European package of incentives in return for Tehran suspending its uranium enrichment programme, claiming that accepting the deal would be like receiving candy in payment for gold.
"They say we want to give Iranians incentives but they think they are dealing with a four-year-old, telling him they will give him candies or walnuts and take gold from him in return," Mr Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the central Iranian city of Arak, today.
In additional remarks the Iranian president insinuated that his country might pull out of the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty following the current row with Western powers over Tehran’s uranium enrichment activities.
"Don't force governments and nations who are signatories to the atomic non-proliferation treaty to pull out of it," added Mr Ahmadinejad, whose speech was broadcast live on Iranian state television.
The Iranian leader’s comments follow reports that Britain, France and Germany are considering plans to offer Tehran a light-water nuclear reactor if it agrees to abandon its uranium enrichment activity.
Iran claims that its nuclear activities are designed for civilian purposes to meet the country’s energy requirements, but Western powers fear that Tehran may harness the technology to produce nuclear weapons.
The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana said yesterday that the EU’s three biggest powers were putting together a package that would offer Iran the "most sophisticated" technology to help it meet the country’s energy needs.
Diplomats have said that a rejection of the offer would be taken as confirmation that Iran intended to use its uranium enrichment programme for more than peaceful ends.
France, Britain and Germany will discuss the package of incentives with representatives from the United States, Russia and China at a United Nations (UN) security council meeting in London on Friday.