Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi is opposed to sanctions against Tehran. Today, meanwhile, talks began in Geneva between Iran and the countries of the "5 +1", the five members of the UN Security Council (U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France) plus Germany on the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
In a statement posted on the reformist website Rouydadnews, the candidate for president in last Junes elections declares: "We are opposed to any kind of sanction against our country." Moussavi states that "[Sanctions] will impose agonies on a nation that already suffers because of their maniacal government”. He adds that "the country is on the cusp of a crisis that affects mainly the poor" and that this is the result of the "wrong and adventurous foreign policies of the government."
Moussavi reminds Iran's conservative wing that three months of "suppression of popular dissent" has only contributed to "fuelling the dissent, encouraging further protests; the new way of life chosen by the people – he warns - is not temporary, destined to disappear”. The opposition leader has harsh criticism for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, guilty of "causing the crisis in terms of foreign policy." "The less fortunate sectors of society - concludes the leader of the "green movement"- will have to a higher cost than others for this crisis. This is our country and this is our existence - he concludes - and it is upon us to worry about such problems and be sensitive to them".
Tehran, meanwhile, claims it will participate in nuclear talks with "good intentions". Salil Saeed, the chief nuclear negotiator, said as much yesterday before leaving the country for Geneva. "We're going to take part in the talks with good will," said Jalili, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council, reaffirming the importance of nuclear technology for civilian purposes and excluding the possibility of seeking to build atomic weapons.
