West Has Another Month to Accept Nuclear Offer

 

Jan. 03, 10 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iranian Foreign Ministry officials say Tehran will give another month for interested parties to accept Iran’s generous nuclear swap offer or they should expect Iran makes its own efforts to produce the fuel by itself.

 

Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki provided the Western countries involved in Iran’s nuclear dossier a one-month timeframe to accept Iran’s offer. ‘The international community has just one month left to decide whether or not it will accept Iran's conditions,’ Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by state television as saying.

 

Also, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mihman-Parast confirmed Tehran’s position with respect to the nuclear fuel proposal. He said some countries have asked Iran to wait for two more months and Tehran accepted their request back in Dec. 09. He went on to say that a month has since past and there’s only another month remaining for those parties to fulfill their promises.

 

Last October, Iran and 5+1 met in Geneva. After the talks certain Western countries came up with a nuclear fuel proposal in which Iran would send most of its safely- stored low enriched uranium to other countries to be enriched to higher levels for undetermined periods. Later in the process when everything goes accordingly Tehran might receive its own nuclear fuel back - this time enriched to higher levels. Iran rejected this flawed offer and instead brought forth a generous proposal in which a nuclear swap exchange could be made on the Iranian island of Kish in the Persian Gulf in a step-by-step approach.

 

Some Western countries have serious doubts on Iran’s capability to enrich uranium to higher levels. Western experts in the field say Iran has limited means for producing enriched uranium even to low levels let alone enriching it to higher levels. But Tehran dismissed their claims saying the country has the capability to enrich uranium to higher levels for use in Tehran’s reactor which takes 20 percent enriched uranium as nuclear fuel.

 

The US administration warned Iran that it would face more forms of sanctions in the coming months. On Wednesday, US State Department Spokesman Darby Holladay said, ‘Even as we leave the door open to engagement," world powers agree that Iran will pay the consequences if it does not meet its international nuclear obligations,’ as quoted by AFP.

 

Western countries seeking to keep their monopolies in the field of nuclear technology want both China and Russia to support them in their efforts against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activities. But Moscow and Beijing say they see no need to rush into conclusions regarding Iranian nuclear dossier and therefore there’s no need to impose sanctions.