Iran not to enter talks with U.S. under pressures: former FM

TEHRAN, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's former foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said that Iran will not enter negotiations with the United States under pressures, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

Iran is under a number of unilateral Western sanctions on its oil and financial sectors over its controversial nuclear program.

The U.S. Senate on Friday overwhelmingly approved expanded sanctions on Iran's energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors.

The sanctions will penalize transactions with Iran's energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors and target individuals who sell or supply materials, such as graphite, aluminum and steel, to Iran.

The measures will also slap sanctions on those who purchase Iran's oil with precious metals, including gold, in an effort to prevent Tehran from circumventing the existing economic sanctions.

"The Americans think that pressures can sway Iran and they can bring the Iranian nation and government to their knees, but the guidelines of (Iran's) supreme leader have prevented the country's defeat in confrontation against pressures and plots," Mottaki was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Washington's continued animosity towards Tehran has killed opportunities for talks between the two arch foes, he said according to Fars.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said that the United States was ready for bilateral talks with Iran over the country's nuclear program.

She said that the U.S. was working with members of P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations plus Germany), over Iran's nuclear issue and also was open to have bilateral negotiations if Tehran was "ever ready."

In November, Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, spokesman for Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that if the U.S. government sought to hold talks with Iran, it had to prove its goodwill at the very least through measures such as delaying sanctions.

The United States and its Western allies have accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear program, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.

Iran insists the Western countries should acknowledge its right to a nuclear development program and remove sanctions. The West, in turn, demands Iran cease its uranium-processing activities.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog