President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has called on the UN nuclear agency to compensate Iran for its suspension of nuclear activities in 2003, state television reported yesterday.
Ahmadinejad made the call shortly before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began a second day of talks in Vienna that will include Iran's nuclear program. The meeting is expected to file a report on Iran to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions on the country.
``The IAEA now has to compensate Iran for causing damage to the development of its science, technology and economy'' due to the suspension of nuclear activities, the TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Under heavy pressure from the West, Iran suspended its enrichment of uranium and related activities in 2003 as a goodwill gesture and began negotiations with the big three European powers on a framework for its nuclear development.
Ahmadinejad's claim that the IAEA had a debt to Iran appeared to be another bid to put pressure on the world body as it considers its report on Iran to the Security Council.
On Sunday, Iran warned that if the issue goes to the council, it would begin large-scale enrichment of uranium.
IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday that a deal on Iran's program could be only a few days away, making council action unneeded.
ElBaradei did not elaborate on his comment. However, his optimism was believed to be linked to a confidential Russian proposal to allow Iran to enrich some uranium domestically, diplomats said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge details of the plan.
"I am still very much hopeful that in the next week an agreement could be reached," ElBaradei told reporters.
However the plan has meet with strong US resistance over fears it could be misused to make nuclear weapons.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns underlined US determination, saying in Washington, that "unless Iran does a dramatic about face," he expected the issue to be taken up by the council.
Later, US State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had telephoned ElBaradei "to reiterate the US position that Iran should cease all enrichment-related activity."
In response, ElBaradei agreed that Iran must not be allowed to have enrichment activity on its territory, said a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not in position to speak for the IAEA.
The Russian proposal described by the diplomats would allow Tehran to conduct small-scale uranium enrichment, and would ask the IAEA to set the parameters of such activity to minimize the chances of abuse.
In return, the diplomats said, Iran would be asked to recommit to in-depth IAEA probes of its program on short notice. Iran canceled such investigations last month after the IAEA's 35-nation board put the Security Council on alert by passing on Iran's nuclear dossier.
Meanwhile, China urged Iran yesterday to fully cooperate with the IAEA, while calling on all sides involved in the crisis to exercise restraint.
"We hope Iran will cooperate closely with the IAEA and adopt more measures that are helpful to building confidence," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) said.
"There is still time for a settlement of the issue within the framework of the IAEA," he said.
Li urged the international community not to give up efforts towards a diplomatic solution.
He said that Iran had the right of peaceful nuclear energy but it "should shoulder its relevant obligations" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
COMMUNITY CONFLICT: Concerns about disease spread from corpses has run up against friends and families’ desire to bury their dead as infection spreads in the area Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week. No one was hurt in the attack, according to reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections fled the facility and are unaccounted for, a hospital director said. Angry residents arrived at the clinic in the
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
RSS