EU must stand up to US to achieve Iran nuclear deal, says Rowhani
London, April 20, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Rowhani
Britain, France and Germany must resist any US pressure to prevent the collapse of the European Union's bid to negotiate long-term arrangement on Iran's nuclear program, according to Iran's Supreme National Security Council chair Hassan Rowhani.
"They must stand up more to the US. This is the biggest political test for Europe. If the negotiations fail and the dossier goes to the Security Council, this is indeed a great failure for Europe," he said.
Rowhani issued his warning in an edited translation from Farsi of an interview with the Financial Times, which was published fully on the paper's website Wednesday.
It was held ahead of the latest EU3-Iran negotiations in Geneva, which are due to be followed by a more high-level review in London on April 29.
The chairman of Iran's security council also warned that for the EU to support any referral of the case to the UN would represent a violation of the agreement reached in Tehran in October 2003.
"For our dossier to be sent to the Security Council would be a great failure on the part of Europe, IAEA and multilateralism as a whole," he said.
This, Rowhani said, was because the EU3 in the Tehran statement 'clearly pointed out that Iran dossier should be handled in the context of the agency'.
"If they have issued that statement (on referral), they have breached the Tehran statement. And we have officially said as such to them. Because they have to observe Tehran statement, because the basis of what we are doing is the Tehran statement," he said.
Despite his warnings, the Supreme National Security Council chairman told the Financial Times that he was cautiously optimistic that progress could be made on a 'number of ideas' presented by Iran in the negotiations.
"We are not at all pessimistic. In fact we are optimistic that we might be able to reach an agreement with the Europeans," he said.
But at the same time, he suggested that the negotiations could end if there was no 'tangible progress' by April 29.
"If we see tangible progress, we are willing to continue," Rowhani said. "We have informed the Europeans of the nature of the progress we must have by April 29," he further revealed.
The kind of progress required was for the Europeans to come back and suggested that the ideas Iran has put forward 'can be the basis for the next step', he said.
"We have put a number of very clear ideas on the table. The ball is now in the European court," Rowhani said. "The Europeans have had more than 40 days to study them," he added.
But he also said that 'if we get the feeling the Europeans are killing time, we would not accept' and that if they decided 'not to show any flexibility about these ideas that would translate into the end of the negotiations'.
"In other words, these ideas are very last possible ideas that we could come up with as compromise options," the security council chairman spelt out.
"The Europeans should tell us whether these ideas can work as the basis for continued negotiations or not."
He added that 'if Europe is inclined towards a final solution and shows good-will, we can reasonably expect a major development with wider ramification'.
The Financial Times quoted western diplomats suggesting that any concessions to Tehran would 'undermine the support for the talks that the Europeans were now receiving from the US'.
Rowhani played down the US dropping its objections to Iran joining the World Trade Organization and agreeing to allow the sale of aircraft spare parts to Tehran as 'symbolic'.
"This is not a signal directed at us. The Americans are sending the signal to the Europeans. Whatever decision President Bush took, came after his talks with Mr Schroeder and President Chirac," he said.
With regard to any rapprochement with the US, the security council chairman said that 'the key to dialogue is held by Washington'.
"A country that expresses an interest in negotiations cannot at the same time talk of regime change. Therefore, the US must clearly announce its strategy," he said.
The Americans, Rowhani said, were 'always contradicting themselves'. He referred to Iran's cooperation in Afghanistan, when 'the Americans thanked us on one hand and then Mr Bush said we were part of the notorious 'axis of evil'."
HC/2323/1412
::IRNA No.050 20/04/2005 16:16 --End
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