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Iran obliges US to send home academic upon his own request

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Madrid, July 13, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that the US should send home Iranian academic Shahram Amiri after he made a request to Pakistani Embassy in Washington which looks after Iranian interest.

Amiri, a university researcher, was disappeared during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last June. He was abducted by US agents with the help of Saudi intelligence service.

Speaking to reporters, he acknowledged Cuban leader Fidel Castro's remarks in his TV appearance that the US is mounting hostility in the world and that after the cold war, the U.S. got a perception that it is the dominant power.

He said that the U.S. embarked on aggressive approach in the international community, because it is assuming that it is the leading military power in the world and can trigger any war or conflicts but the fact is that the US cannot predict the aftermath of such conflicts.

“We witnessed a horrible defeat for Bush administration during invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said adding that it gave the US people a new chance to elect the new president.

“If President Obama prefers to pursue the same path, he will experience the fate of President Bush,” he said.

Mottaki said that after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, the country attained significant developments in various fields. He advised Europe to adopt a proper approach concerning Iran.

"Iran is currently the second producer of gas in the world with huge resources. It has created suitable opportunities for foreign investments," he said.

“We have not suffered any loss due to sanctions imposed against Iran but those companies which backed these sanctions are the main losers,” he said.

"The literature of sanctions dates back to 1960s and 1970s and has no use at this juncture. Europe needs our gas and it is up to them whether or not they deprive themselves of the energy supply."

Mottaki said that the United Nations Security Council Resolutions are politically motivated and the sanctions are psychological war and the Iranian nation are determined to vindicate the legitimate rights and never let their rights be trampled upon.

Iran is a founding member of Non-Proliferation Treaty and honors commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said adding that Iran abided by all its undertakings consistent with the NPT and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement.

Mottaki said that Iran has accepted the IAEA proposal on swap of 3.5 percent uranium with 20 percent fuel for Tehran medical research reactor following the Iranian demand for fuel from the IAEA.

He said that Iran prefers to buy fuel and to perform the swap deal. "Otherwise, we do not have other choice, but to produce fuel."

He criticized the European Union for following the US lead and advised them to make a proper decision about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

He said that the international community demanded annihilation of nuclear arms in the International Conference on Revision of NPT and Disarmament in New York and that the member states singalled out Israel as the focus of their concern for its refusal to sign up to NPT.

"The question is why the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have equipped the Zionist regime with nuclear weapons."

Referring to the record of Iranian peace efforts in the Middle East, Mottaki said that the region is very sensitive and crisis-prone and that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always contributed to resolve the crises.