Iran: We can 'clearly prove' nuclear program isn't for bomb
Iran's parliament speaker to CNN: West should allow enrichment for civilian purposes.
By JPOST.COM STAFFIran's Parliament speaker Ali Larijani 370(photo credit: REUTERS)
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday told CNN that Tehran was serious about resolving its nuclear issue, and was seeking to come to an agreement shortly given that the West would agree to let Iran to enrich nuclear fuel for civilian purposes.“From Iran's side, I can say that we are ready,” Larijani, speaking from Geneva, told CNN's Chrisitan Amanpour.Larijani told Amanpour that Iran can "clearly show and prove" to world powers that it was not developing a nuclear bomb.He stated that Iran had no intention of weaponizing its nuclear program. "So it can be resolved in a very short period of time,” he said.“If the Americans and other countries say that Iran should not develop a nuclear bomb or should not move towards that, then we can clearly show and prove that," he said.However, Larijani told Amanpour that a resolution would "take a long time" if the West seeks to "bargain with us or if they have ulterior motives". He added that the issue would also not be resolved speedily if world powers planned to try to "convince Iran to abandon its nuclear program".Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday said world powers negotiating with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program must come up with new proposals before talks in Geneva on October 15-16."The previous P5+1 plan given to Iran belongs to history and they must enter talks with a new point of view," Zarif said in an interview with Iranian state television late on Saturday.Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - plus Germany, the so-called P5+1, said in February they want Iran to stop enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, ship out some stockpiles and shutter a facility where such enrichment is done.Reuters contributed to this report.
