Tehran, May 26 (DPA) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Wednesday that Iran would no longer negotiate with world powers if they refuse to embrace the latest nuclear agreement.
‘If they reject the agreement and start playing new (political) games, then they should know that the doors for negotiations and understandings will be closed,’ he said in a televised speech.
He was referring a deal struck last week with Turkey and Brazil to ship Iran’s low-enriched uranium to Turkey for storage, in exchange for medium-enriched uranium as nuclear fuel for Tehran’s medical research centre.
The pact was based on an October proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency to have Iranian uranium enriched in Russia and processed into fuel in France. Those negotiations broke down when Iran insisted that the uranium-fuel swap take place on its soil.
Brazil and Turkey brokered the compromise to store the fuel in Turkey, which was met with initial scepticism by Western powers who charged that the Islamic republic agreed to it only to avoid a new UN Security Council resolution and sanctions.
‘We will not allow any countries to interfere in our political and economic affairs,’ Ahmadinejad said. ‘The agreement is the last chance to settle the issue.’
He also made an unprecedented verbal attack against Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, accusing him siding with the US in imposing new sanctions against Iran.
‘Russia is our friend, our neighbour, but the question is whether it is still with us or following other aims,’ Ahmadinejad said.
rounak