Posted on 08/30/2006 7:18:35 AM PDT by Grendel9
Published: Wednesday, 30 August, 2006 By Farshid Motahari
TEHRAN: Iran is facing a critical juncture: the UN Security Council has given the Islamic state until Thursday to either suspend its uranium enrichment programme or face sanctions and further political isolation.
The inauguration of a heavy-water reactor this weekend in Arak, south-east of Tehran, was anything but a positive signal to New York. While Iranian officials said it is mainly to be used for medical research purposes, the plant can also produce plutonium used for nuclear warheads.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has since clarified the current Iranian position: negotiations yes, concessions no.
In other words, Iran is ready to talk to the West about details of its nuclear programme and is open to new proposals. But the Islamic state rejects the main demand of the Security Council - the immediate suspension of the uranium enrichment process.
For Ahmadinejad, who has regularly played up the nuclear dispute on the national stage, backing down now would not only damage his credibility in front of his own people but also within the Islamic world. A reversal of his position, even if desired, would cause him to lose face.
(Excerpt) Read more at gulf-times.com ...
Well, Kofi Annan is on his way to Tehran. What possible POSITIVE can result when a pair of two-faced, self-aggrandizing men confer on world peace issues?
Annan's time of UN leadership is up on Dec.31, 2006. The big question is, who might the General Assembly appoint for the NEXT 4 years...Better? Worse? or just as Inept?
"...The big question is, who might the General Assembly appoint for the NEXT 4 years...Better? Worse? or just as Inept?..."
A scary thought....Clinton.
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