Iran’s Ex-Nuclear Chief Says US Intelligence Report Shows “Change” in Policy

Text of unattributed report in Political Desk headlined “Larijani in a reaction to the new US security report: Washington is looking to increase pressure on Iran” published by Iranian newspaper Tehran- e Emrooz on 6 December

Ali Larijani, the supreme leader’s representative in the National Security Council, called the US security report on Iran’s nuclear activities, a scandal for the Americans but asserted that the publication of this report aims at a change in the US policy towards Iran.

According to Mehr news agency, Ali Larijani pointed to the fact that the different parts of the US security report have not the same weight from the point of view of the information it presents; some parts are confessions to previous errors and some other parts are a kind of propaganda and leaves the hands open to put pressure on Iran. He said: In one section of this report, it is clearly mentioned that it was a mistake to assume that Iran was moving towards a nuclear weapon programme but other parts are like guesses and suppositions which can be exploited by other intentions. He added: In this report it is pointed out that the voluntary suspension of uranium [enrichment] by Iran in 2003, was the result of threats and pressures; this means that this was not voluntary. America’s aim is to establish that if we want Iran to stop its uranium [activity], we should put pressure on this country. The former secretary of the National Security Council said Bush’s claim regarding his ignorance of the security report is not believable and regarded his remarks about Iran’s becoming a member of the WTO [World Trade Organization] and receiving airplane parts from the US if it suspends the uranium enrichment, as funny and said: Apparently the Americans’ brains are damaged. He continued: Bush had a reason to publish this report at this very moment. First, of all one can understand that the Americans were not too sincere on Iraq’s issue and wanted to gain some respect for themselves. In another dimension, the American politicians want to pretend that they always decide according to the information of that period: In 2005, according to the same kind of report, they tried to send Iran’s nuclear file to the Security Council and now, with the new report they might take another decision. The fourth reason is that there are, in this report, traces of positions very similar to the positions of the 5+1 group, which says that pressures on Iran is working. Therefore, one can assume that America intends to change its policy towards Iran following the publication of this report. The supreme leader’s representative in the National Security Council called the US security report a good opportunity for governments and nations and insisted: Iran should use a rational and wise diplomacy to use this report to return Iran’s nuclear file to its original place that is the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]. Larijani, insisting on the necessity of a rational and wise diplomacy on Iran’s part, said a multifaceted diplomatic pattern is needed to return the file to the IAEA.

Recommendation to Americans

Meanwhile Manuchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, insisting on Iran’s right to use the nuclear technology, said this right has not been donated by a certain country and recommended the Americans to take the right decision and not to repeat the past errors. Mottaki regarded the US security report as an important report for politicians and military men and said: With this report, suddenly, a great number of claims and efforts, which were mainly of a political nature, were fallen down because it clearly states that Iran did not follow a nuclear weapon programme until mid 2007.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry pointed to the fact that the control and supervision of nuclear weapons has a security aspect and said: This clear comment creates an opportunity for American authorities and if they do not use it they will continue going on their own wrong path. He added: Now, the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities has been revealed to the entire world; a fact that was stressed in the recent reports of the IAEA as well.

Result of nation’s resistance

Hojat ol-Eslam Seyed Ahmad Musavi, juridical and parliamentary deputy of the president, said the confessions by 16 US security agencies to the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities are the result of resistance and tolerance of Iran’s government and people. Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, the senior advisor to the president said: A few recent remarks by the US envoy in the IAEA shows that some events are happening. With the publication of the security report, the basis of America’s reasoning against Iran has, in fact been destroyed. Therefore, we have to wait for the new approach by the US and its allies. Answering the question whether he thinks that this report is a beginning for considering another resolution against Iran, he said: This report is in contradiction with the nature of all the resolutions because they were based on the deviation of Iran’s nuclear activities towards military goals. With this report, such allegations become baseless and the UN Security Council should find a way out of this situation.

Originally published by Tehran-e Emrooz, Tehran, in Persian 06 Dec 07.

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