Iran's Rafsanjani urges Obama not to copy Bush

NUKEWARS

UN nuclear chief ElBaradei welcomes US overtures to Iran
UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei in an interview published Sunday welcomed recent overtures by US President Barack Obama to engage Iran in talks on its nuclear program. ElBaradei called in an interview with the Washington Post for "a direct dialogue" between Iran and the United States, to encourage "trust-building" between the two nations. "You're not going to have trust unless you have a direct dialogue. President Obama is saying he's ready to have a direct dialogue without preconditions, based on mutual respect. I say this is absolutely overdue," ElBaradei told the newspaper. Experts have said that even before winning November's presidential election, Obama began to engage in "track two" discussions to approach America's foes in the Middle East, including Iran. In an interview last week, Obama said the United States would offer Iran an extended hand of diplomacy if the Islamic Republic's leaders "unclenched their fist." ElBaradei told The Post that diplomatic efforts to compel Iranian cooperation have been ineffective. "Iran was cooperating even more before," he said."They cut the cooperation ... when they were taken to the Security Council in 2005." He added: "I have said for the past six years that the policy of building trust between the West (and the United States in particular) and Iran has failed completely. We haven't moved one iota," he said. ElBaradei also praised his agency's efforts to shed light on Iran's atomic program, which it long has claimed is civilian in nature, but which some countries believe aims to develop nuclear weapons. "We have done as much as we can do in Iran to make sure that we understand the history and the present status of their program, to try to push them as far as we can within our authority to come clean," ElBaradei told the daily. He added: "I am very proud that within the limited authority we have, we have been able to understand the scope of the most sensitive part of the Iranian program, which is the enrichment program, which is now under complete agency inspection."

by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) Jan 30, 2009
Iran's influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Friday urged new US President Barack Obama not to copy the policies of his predecessor George W. Bush in dealing with Tehran.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs's statement on Thursday that Obama retained "all options" while dealing with Tehran and its controversial nuclear programme reminded him of Bush, Rafsanjani said in a Friday prayers sermon.

"Repeating Mr (George W.) Bush's words does not resolve the (nuclear) problem," he said in an address broadcast on state radio.

"Saying that all options are on the table, even the military one, and that if Iran wants to end its isolation it must suspend its nuclear programme will not work," the powerful cleric said.

On Thursday, Gibbs said Obama preferred diplomacy with the Islamic republic but preserved "all his options".

Asked if the military option was still on the table, Gibbs said: "The president hasn't changed his viewpoint that he should preserve all his options."

In tackling Tehran's nuclear ambitions, alleged support for terrorism and threats against Israel, Obama believes "we must use all elements of our national power to protect our interests as it relates to Iran," he said.

Rafsanjani said the White House must take a "just" stand on the issue.

"We are still expecting the new US administration to take a just and reasonable step that does not violate Iran's rights and also helps ease the concerns of the world too," Rafsanjani said.

"Non-transparent and impractical promises will not work."

On Monday, Obama offered a diplomatic hand to Tehran if it was ready to "unclenched its fist."

In an interview with Al-Arabiya television, Obama promised to lay down a framework for his policy towards Iran, whose leaders have long regarded the United States as the "Great Satan".

"As I said in my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us," Obama said.

"It is very important for us to make sure that we are using all the tools of US power, including diplomacy, in our relationship with Iran."

But Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reacted by launching a fresh tirade against the United States and said he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

"Meet people, talk to them with respect and put an end to the expansionist policies. If you talk about change it must put an end to the US military presence in the world," Ahmadinejad said.

The UN Security Council permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany have offered Tehran a set of economic and energy incentives in exchange for halting its uranium enrichment programme which the West sees as a cover to acquire a nuclear weapons capability.

But Tehran is pressing on with its sensitive nuclear fuel work, insisting that its nuclear programme is peaceful and solely geared toward electricity generation.

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NUKEWARS

Clinton urges Iran to show "willingness to engage" in talks

Washington (AFP) Jan 26, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged Iran to show "willingness to engage meaningfully" with the world community and said a US envoy would join multilateral talks next week on Iran's disputed nuclear program.

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