Iran sanctions will not help diplomacy

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says threats and sanctions against the Islamic Republic will lead to the failure of diplomatic efforts to resolve Tehran’s nuclear issue.

“We have always believed in diplomacy and presume that it could not be made to work through threats and sanctions,” IRNA reported the Iranian chief executive as saying in an interview with the UNTV on Thursday.

He also expressed Iran’s readiness to engage in discussions over the country’s nuclear program, saying, “We believe in negotiations based on equality and justice, but so far as the US deems itself above the law, one must not expect the success of talks.”
The Iranian president further criticized the “carrot-and-stick” policy of the West over Iran’s nuclear program and said, “Such policies date back to the colonial era,” adding that Iran will not succumb to pressure from the US or any other country.

President Ahmadinejad also pointed to the Tehran declaration, drawn up and signed by Iran, Brazil and Turkey in the Iranian capital on May 17, which is regarded by Iran as the cornerstone for any nuclear negotiations.

According to the declaration, Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel rods.

The 20-percent enriched fuel will be used to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for treatment of cancer patients.

Spearheaded by the US, Western countries have imposed unilateral anti-Iran sanctions in addition to the UN Security Council resolution adopted against the country in June. The West accuses Tehran of having military objectives in the pursuit of its nuclear program.

Tehran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it is pursuing its program for peaceful nuclear energy.