“We Will Not Give Up One Iota Of Nuclear Rights”
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Once again, we all have the opportunity to be just absolutely blown away by the amazing successes of this new era of Obama foreign policy, all the change, all the hope, all the huge difference his “genius” new approach has made…
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday his country would not give up “one iota” of its nuclear rights, but added that the West had moved “from confrontation to interaction” with Iran over its controversial uranium enrichment, which he called the nation’s “inalienable right.”
Speaking to a rally on Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Ahmadinejad said that “ground has been paved for nuclear cooperation” and Teheran was ready to work on nuclear fuel supplies and technical know-how with the UN nuclear watchdog.
He added that Iran welcomed the international offer to ship out 70 percent of its enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment, but was unspecific as to whether the Islamic Republic would sign the deal.
On Thursday afternoon Reuters reported that the nation had handed the International Atomic Energy Agency its response to the UN deal. The news agency cited state-owned Al-Alam TV. There was no information on the content or nature of the response, and no official confirmation has yet been made by the IAEA.
Iran has been considering the deal – which Western leaders hope will ease concerns over Teheran’s controversial nuclear program – for a week now.
Iran is expected to present a counteroffer with “important adjustments,” said Al Alam, a Teheran-based, government-controlled Arabic-language television news channel, citing unnamed sources.
Hilary Leila Krieger contributed to this report.
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