Ahmadinejad Urges West to Value New Breakthrough in Iran's Nuclear Issue

TEHRAN (FNA), May 26, 2010-

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called on the US, Russia and European states to pay heed to the Tehran Declaration on the swap of nuclear fuel, cautioning that their negative response will render future interaction impossible.

"I announce that the Tehran Declaration is a yardstick (of the performance) of the US, Russia and two or three European states, and the declaration is an end to the arguments raised by all of them, and the governments and nations," Ahmadinejad said, addressing a large crowd of the people in the southeastern city of Kerman today.

"If they are telling the truth and are after cooperation and interaction, and are seeking the law and justice, they should heed the declaration and behave in accordance with its contents," the Iranian president stated.

He further warned that a rejection of the Tehran agreement would entail dire consequences, and added, "These countries must know that if they play games and seek excuses, the road to any kind of future move and interaction will be blocked."

A majority of the international community has voiced support for the agreement made between Tehran, Brasilia and Ankara on the swap of nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor. The agreement envisages sending some 1200 kg of Iran's 3.5% enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total 120 kg of 20% enriched fuel.

Based on the Tehran Declaration, the fuel swap will take place nearly a month after receiving an official approval from the Vienna Group, which consists of representatives from potential suppliers - France, Russia and the US - and the IAEA as the world's nuclear arbitration and supervision body.

After the Tehran Declaration was issued last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote letters to 26 world leaders to brief them over the breakthrough agreement.

Independent countries, like Kenya, Kuwait, Japan, Uruguay and Mexico as well as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have all hailed the move.

A number of EU officials have also voiced preparedness to start talks with Iran on the basis of the Tehran Declaration.

The Tehran Declaration is widely seen as a diplomatic initiative which would end the long-stalled nuclear deal between Tehran and potential western suppliers, but Washington has not yet shown a proper response to the epoch-making agreement, and has, instead, introduced a draft sanctions resolution against Iran to the UN Security Council.

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