Presidential candidate John Kerry’s plan to provide Iran with the nuclear fuel it wants in exchange for a promise to forgo efforts to enrich the material for the development of weapons of mass destruction was rejected out of hand this weekend by the Shiite regime.
Iran says it will reject any proposal to drop uranium enrichment, a step European Union diplomats are proposing to end the conflict over whether Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
EU diplomats have said they are seeking U.S. and Russian support for a deal that would ask Iran to give up uranium enrichment in return for technical and economic assistance.
“Any proposal which deprives Iran of its legitimate right to a fuel cycle is not acceptable,” Hossein Mousavian, Iran’s head of foreign policy on the Supreme National Security Council, told state television Saturday.
However, he said he was not responding to a specific offer.
“We have not yet received the text of the proposal and have to see what it contains to assess it,” he said.
Uranium, if enriched to a low level, can be used to fuel nuclear power stations such as the one Iran is building at the southern port of Busher. If enriched further it can be used in nuclear warheads.
Kerry has been insisting as president he would provide Tehran with nuclear fuel as long as it is used for peaceful purposes only, a position that has many Middle East analysts baffled.
During the first presidential debate, Kerry said, “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.”
The same policy of accommodation toward Iran’s nuclear aspirations is clearly outlined on Kerry’s campaign website as well.
Under the heading: “Prevent Iran From Developing Nuclear Weapons,” the Kerry campaign states: “Iran claims that its nuclear program is only to meet its domestic energy needs. John Kerry’s proposal would call their bluff by organizing a group of states to offer Iran the nuclear fuel they need for peaceful purposes and take back the spent fuel so they cannot divert it to build a weapon. If Iran does not accept this offer, their true motivations will be clear … .”
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged his country’s weapons developers to step up work on making a nuclear bomb, a U.S. official recently said, according to Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.
Citing an authoritative source in the Iranian exile community, the official said Khamenei met recently with senior government and military leaders regarding the nuclear weapons program.
Khamenei told the gathering, “We must have two bombs ready to go in January or you are not Muslims,” the official said.
Tehran has said the recent International Atomic Energy Agency resolution calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment could lead to the country’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Khamenei has in the past told many newspapers that nuclear weapons would be used to “destroy the Zionist regime.”
Related stories:
Tehran John: Pro-Iranian lobby funding Kerry
Iran likes Kerry deal to supply nuke fuel
Money trail behind Kerry’s Iran stance
Kerry would still supply Iran with nuclear fuel
Kerry: U.S. should’ve given nuclear fuel to Iran
Iranian leader wants nuke in 4 months
Kerry influenced by Iranian funders?
Kerry taking campaign to the enemy?
Related column:
WATCH: Tucker: JD Vance plans to find out how much we’re spending on illegal aliens
Tucker Carlson