Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday ridiculed an EU plan to offer trade and technology incentives in exchange for his country agreeing to halt sensitive nuclear work.
"They say they want to give us incentives. They think they can take away our gold and give us some nuts and chocolate in exchange," Ahmadinejad told a rally in the town of Arak.
In a confident speech carried live on state-run television, he also vowed the Islamic regime would not bow to demands it freeze uranium enrichment work -- at the center of fears the country could acquire atomic weapons.
Warning
The president also again warned that Iran could quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and halt inspections by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"We accepted a suspension for two years," Ahmadinejad said, referring to a now-moribund deal with leading EU members Britain, France and Germany.
"This was a bitter experience for the Iranian people. The Iranians won't be bitten twice on the same spot," he told a crowd of thousands, drawing chants of "Death to America!" and "Ahmadinejad, we love you!"
Enrichment is a process that makes fuel for nuclear power reactors but can also produce the core of a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that it only wants to make reactor fuel and that this is a right enshrined by the NPT.
"We don't need incentives. There is no need to give us incentives, just don't try to wrong us," said the president during the rock festival-style rally.
The European powers are currently drawing up a package of trade and technological incentives they hope will coax Iran into voluntarily curbing its atomic ambitions.
Under the draft deal, Russia would enrich uranium on Iran's behalf, diplomats say.
The offer -- which could include helping Iran acquire a light-water nuclear reactor -- was to have been reviewed on Friday in London by the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, but this meeting has been postponed.
"The reason is to allow more detailed preparations on the EU-3 proposals to Iran," a British Foreign Office spokesman told reporters in London. He added that a meeting would likely take place in the next 10 days or so.
Counteroffer
Later yesterday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman -- in a mocking turnabout -- offered the Europeans trade incentives from Tehran.
"We are prepared to offer economic incentives to Europe in return for recognizing our right [to enrich uranium]," Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted by state-run radio as saying.
"Iran's 70-million population market is a good incentive for Europe," the radio quoted Asefi as saying.
European countries now have access to the Iranian market, but Tehran has in recent years turned more frequently to Russian and China for trade deals.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique