President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , the stiff-necked leader of Iran appears to be making a U-turn and now ready to talk as the heat is on.
Although stubborn MA is no doubt soft-pedalling over his nuclear folly, and what is more, with the recent flurry of global condemnation following the barbarous attacks on the UK Embassy in Tehran, he said any negotiations had to be held without preconditions, adding that Iran favoured talks based on justice and mutual respect.
The Iranian hardliner stressed that the world already knew that Tehran was not seeking nuclear arms, but blasted the West´s stance on the country´s nuclear energy programme saying it was politically motivated.
MA also boasted that sanctions could not prevent Iran´s progress and could never stop the Iranian nation from pursuing peaceful nuclear technology.
It will be recalled that the P5+1 drew up a draft resolution over Iran´s nuclear programme on November 17, saying that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was to find a “diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.”
The draft stopped short of referring Tehran to the Security Council.
In its November 8 report, the IAEA accused Iran of conducting activities related to developing nuclear weapons before 2003, adding that these activities “may still be ongoing.”
Tehran, however, rejected the report as “unbalanced, unprofessional and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure mostly by the United States.”
The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to impose a new round of sanctions on the country´s banking and energy sectors.
But Tehran refutes the allegations, arguing that, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to acquire and develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.