Britain's Straw Presses Iran on Nuclear Program
VOA News
29 Jun 2003, 19:41 UTC
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has used his visit to Iran to press Tehran to be more open about its nuclear program.
He told Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi that Iran's failure to sign an an agreement to allow U.N. officials to conduct surprise inspections of nuclear sites could damage trade with the European Union.
But Mr. Kharazi says Iran would not sign the agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. He says Iran is ready to be transparent about its nuclear program. But he says Tehran needs to first study the implications of signing the additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Mr. Kharazi also stressed that his country's nuclear ambitions are limited to energy. The United States accuses Iran of using its nuclear power program to secretly develop nuclear weapons.
Mr. Straw and Mr. Kharazi also discussed the recent student protests in Iran against the country's government and unelected Islamic clerical regime. Iran accused Britain of interfering with its internal affairs following comments by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the demonstrations.
But Mr. Straw says Mr. Blair comment was in support of the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, and not the political demands of the protesters.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.
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