Busy diplomatic activity ahead of Moscow meeting
Moscow (AsiaNews/Agencies) Diplomatic chancelleries are in overdrive as the clock ticks before next Monday's Moscow talks between Iran and Russia on a Russian proposal to enrich Iranian uranium on its territory. The arrival of Iranian delegation in the Russian capital is seen by many as an 11th hour move to avoid Iran being deferred to the United Nations Security Council.
As tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme push oil prices above US$ 59, Europe is also being pushed to act. "No civil nuclear programme can explain the Iranian nuclear programmeit is a clandestine military nuclear programme," said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy yesterday.
French President Jacques Chirac, who is in New Delhi on an official visit, urged Tehran "to take the hand offered".
Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, denied French allegations and told Douste-Blazy to "speak in diplomatic terms and avoid increasing tension".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Berlin to discuss Iran's nuclear programme and the Middle East situation.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has accused Iran of being "the central banker for terrorism" working with Syria in order to destabilise the Middle East. Ms Rice signaled the US intention to step up its diplomatic offensive against Iran, saying the threat it posed went beyond its controversial nuclear programme.
Russia's top military chief, General Yuri Baluyevsky, has instead warned the United States against the use of force. "It is hard to predict how the Muslim world will respond to the use of force against Iran," he said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alekseyev said instead that his country's good relations with Tehran and its cooperation with China should favour a solution to the issue.
In Tehran former Iranian president, "progressive" Mohammad Khatami, said he believed that his country should adopt a wise strategy in regard to its nuclear issue while insisting on its nuclear rights. He did never the less express regret over the West's double-standard approach toward countries, saying Israel as a Middle Eastern country has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has even developed nuclear weapons but the West is pressing Iran to renounce its nuclear program despite being a signatory to the NPT.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he supported Iran's right to nuclear energy if it was for peaceful purposes. "I am against any weapons, especially against nuclear weapons," the president said. But "sovereign countries could decide the directions they want to go."
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