Tehran would welcome John Kerry’s proposal to supply nuclear fuel, Hossein Musavian, the head Iran’s Supreme National Security Council’s foreign policy committee, announced today.
First outlined in a June speech, Kerry’s plan to provide Iran with nuclear fuel in exchange for a pledge to use it for peaceful purposes only was unveiled to the American public during the first presidential debate.
“I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes,” Kerry said in a critique of the Bush administration’s handling of Tehran’s nuclear program, which the Iranians claim is only for civilian purposes.
“If they weren’t willing to work a deal, then we could have put sanctions together,” Kerry said of Tehran. “The president did nothing.”
Initially, Iran rejected the idea, saying that reliance on foreign supplies would jeopardize its nuclear program.
Musavian told Reuters that Kerry’s offer was also dismissed because officials could not tell if it was genuine or merely rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign. “If it is part of Kerry’s election campaign … we do not want to be part of it,” he said. “Let the Americans play their game themselves.”
But, now, the Iranians have changed their tune. Musavian says the Islamic Republic would welcome what Kerry running mate John Edwards has described as a “great bargain,” and the proposal will be reviewed. Iran, however, should be allowed to pursue its “peaceful nuclear program,” he made clear.
“Iran welcomes any constructive proposal from any American candidate,” Musavian told Reuters. But “our legitimate right of pursuing peaceful nuclear technology should be considered,” he said.
Musavian blames a history of “hostile” U.S. policies toward Iran, going back to the Reagan era, for his refusal to engage in direct talks on the nuclear issue with Washington. “It is because of 20 years of mistrust … Up to now, Americans have not shown any sign of good will,” he charged.
Edwards told the Washington Post in August that if Iran failed to take Kerry’s “great bargain,” it would be confirmation that the country is building nuclear weapons under the cover of developing a peaceful source of power.
WorldNetDaily has previously reported that Tehran is already engaged in an ambitious program to develop nuclear weapons to compliment its recently attained ballistic missile capabilities. According to the latest intelligence reports, Iran has decided at the highest levels of government to produce a bomb within the next four months.
Edwards assures that if Tehran accepted the proposal and subsequently cheated, Kerry could be counted upon to pull together a coalition of European allies to impose sanctions. “If we are engaging with Iranians in an effort to reach this great bargain and if, in fact, this is a bluff that they are trying to develop nuclear weapons capability, then we know that our European friends will stand with us,” Edwards said.
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