TEHRAN, Aug 6: An international crisis loomed Saturday after Iran rejected an EU deal to abandon its sensitive nuclear work as hardline new President Mahmood Ahmadinejad warned at his swearing in ceremony that Tehran would not accept “tyranny”.
“Why is it that some countries don’t understand that the Iranian nation won’t accept tyranny?” Ahmadinejad asked after Iran rejected as “unacceptable” an EU package of incentives aimed at convincing Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions.
The offer, made to Iran on Friday by the European Union and backed by the United States, would allow the Islamic republic to pursue peaceful nuclear energy activities as long as it refrains from fuel-cycle work that could help it make atomic weapons.
The Iranians were told they had no choice but to call for a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) 35-nation board of governors — a move that could send Iran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
But foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said: “The European proposals are unacceptable to the Islamic Republic of Iran, they provide no guarantees for Iran’s interests and are contrary to the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Paris agreement.”
He was referring to a November deal with the EU under which Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and conversion for the duration of talks with the bloc.
“We will give our full response to these proposals today or tomorrow, but we can say right away that the Europeans have failed to honour their undertakings,” Mr Asefi told state media after Ahmadinejad took the oath of office before parliament on Saturday.—AFP
