Iran tells Syria it is serious in nuclear talks

Tag : syria

TEHRAN (Thomson Financial) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad onSunday told visiting Syrian president and staunch regional allyBashar al-Assad that Tehran is serious about finding a practicalsolution to the nuclear crisis.
'We are serious in talks and we want the talks to be based on thelaw so it will bear practical results. We hope that other sides areserious too,' Ahmadinejad told Assad in remarks broadcast live onstate-run television.
On Saturday evening Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling his Syriancounterpart that Tehran 'will not give an inch on its nuclearrights.'
His comments coincide with this weekend's U.S. deadline for Iran torespond to an international package of incentives for it to freezeits drive to enrich uranium amid warnings of new sanctions if itdoes not.
After meeting Iran's negotiator Saeed Jalili on July 19 in Geneva,European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana asked for aresponse in two weeks, but 'if it's in 16 days instead of 14 it'snot a problem. We are not obsessed with a date,' an EU diplomatsaid earlier on condition of anonymity.
The Syrian leader's visit follows a trip to Paris a month agoduring which French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Syria to'persuade Iran' to prove that it is not seeking nuclear weapons.
'When we were in France we told them about the Syrian position onIran's nuclear issue but they asked us if we have details of theIranian programme,' Assad said on Sunday in Arabic through atranslator.
'In this trip we got details, so in future if we are asked again weknow Iran's position.'
Meanwhile Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a contender tobecome prime minister, urged the international community to actquickly on new sanctions against Iran, in comments broadcast Sundayby CNN television.
'It is clear that Iran doesn't pay attention to talks, and this isa clear message to the international community to continue withreal and effective sanctions,' said Livni.
'We need to understand that we need to act today in terms ofsanctions. Sanctions can be effective, as long as the Iranians andthe entire world understand that all the options are on the table.'
Iran has so far been slapped by three sets of United NationsSecurity Council resolutions demanding that it halt uraniumenrichment.
This process to produce fuel for nuclear power plants can also beused to make the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
The West fears Iran's atomic programme is a cover for makingnuclear weapons, a charge vehemently denied by Tehran which says itneeds nuclear power to produce electricity for a growingpopulation.
The United States and its ally Israel are leading the pressure onIran and have not ruled out military action.
Israel, which considers Iran its greatest threat, is widelybelieved to be the only nuclear armed state in the Middle Eastalthough it has a policy of neither confirming or denying it has anuclear arsenal. It also does not allow international inspections.
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