IRAN REJECTS THREATS, DEMANDS EQUALITTY IN DIALOGUE WITH THE WEST
27.04.2010Ramin Mehmanparast, Spokesman and Special Assistant to Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, was speaking in a debate on the theme of ‘Unknown Iran’ and its controversial nuclear development programme.
Outlining Iran’s policy on the development of nuclear power, he said: “We believe that peaceful technology should be available for everyone and that no one should be allowed to use nuclear weapons. There should be no exception to this, not for the United States or for anyone else.”
The problem was that nations that possessed a nuclear arsenal could threaten other countries and try to tell them what to do. The United States was threatening Iran because Tehran had a minimal possibility of responding. This was not acceptable.
Iran, a country with thousands of years of history, would only engage in dialogue on a basis of equality, he said. “If someone wants to talk to us it has be on equal terms. If someone threatens us, we stand up to them. Threats will not work.”
Explaining his country’s foreign policy, Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran in fact wanted to broaden the international dialogue and raise issues of much more fundamental change in the world’s financial and economic structure.
David Merkel, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, said in response that understanding of policy differences could only come from dialogue, and he regretted that the spokesman for Iran had “shown very little interest in real dialogue”.
America had been making efforts to engage Iran in dialogue even before President Barack Obama took office, but there had been no response from Tehran. Iran wanted to make an issue of its nuclear options, rather than actually develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
“When a country makes threats against its neighbours they have a right to be on the defensive. If the leadership of Iran really wants nuclear power for peaceful uses they would make sure they have the electricity grid to handle increased power and respond to other external comments,” he said.
In a lively debate chaired by Peter Lavelle, Presenter, Russia Today Channel, several delegates expressed critical views about US policy towards Iran.
Maxim Shevchenko, Russian television talkshow host, said: “Global expansion is the essence of American imperialism. If they stop that it would threaten their very existence.”
On the other hand, Iran was a self-sufficient country which prized its independence. “It is a symbol of humankind at this point in history,” he said.
Hooshang Amiramahdi, President of the American Iranian Council, said there had been a history of mistrust on both sides between Iran and the West that had built up through numerous conflicts.
“Because of this history of mistrust, the West has developed an assumption that a strong Iran is a dangerous Iran, that a weak Iran is all right. What this means is that they will do whatever they can to cripple Iran – they will use sanctions to cripple Iran.”
He argued that in fact a strong Iran would be a more stabilizing force: “A weaker Iran has always been a trouble maker.”
Kairat Abusseitov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom, said there were inherent dangers in any review of nuclear policy. “There is a right of the Iranian government to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy. But what happens has to be within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and related negotiations,” he said.
Ulrich Tilgner, Iran Correspondent of Swiss Television, said he saw no early prospect for constructive dialogue between Iran and the West. When time runs out there is always the possibility of the use of force, he warned.
The Iranian authorities were trying to introduce reforms in their system of government, and foreign pressure to force regime change would not work.
“Sanctions will not lead anywhere, either,” he said. “That option is based on a policy of the stick and the carrot. The stick may be very big, but the carrot cannot be found.”
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