Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator made his international debut in Rome on Tuesday to a chorus of unusually blunt criticism by politicians in Tehran that the departure of his predecessor was unwise.
Saeed Jalili, the negotiator, met with the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been asked by the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to find a formula to persuade Iran to suspend key nuclear activities.
Curiously, at Jalili's side was Ali Larijani, his predecessor, who took the lead in Tuesday's closed-door talks and in remarks afterward to reporters.
Solana described the talks as "constructive," and Larijani said they were "good." But there was no movement on the one issue that matters: Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as required by the UN Security Council, said participants in the meeting who spoke under normal diplomatic rules.
And just hours before the talks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, repeated his vow never to give in on that issue.
"Iran will not retreat one iota," he said on state-run television on a trip to Armenia, adding: "We are in favor of talks, but we will not negotiate with anyone about our right to nuclear technology."
In the Rome meeting, both sides were relaxed even as they spoke past each other, participants said. Larijani stressed that Iran was cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency in answering questions about Iran's nuclear activities in the past, and therefore should be rewarded, not punished, by the international community.
Solana said, as he has in the past, that the Security Council requires Iran to suspend its production of enriched uranium, which can be used for civilian or military purposes.
"Suspension is the crucial issue if the Iranians want to get off the hook of more sanctions," one participant said. "They seem to think they are doing enough."
The brief news conference after the meeting revealed nothing about the fundamental divide.
"Negotiation and cooperation is our basic approach," Jalili said, adding that it was necessary to first "address the misunderstandings."
Larijani said: "We are after no adventure and we are after no troublemaking."
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS