Straw Disappointed With Iranian Speech

FOREIGN Secretary Jack Straw yesterday branded the Iranian President’s speech to the UN ‘disappointing and unhelpful’.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the General Assembly his country had an ‘inalienable right’ to nuclear energy and offered foreign countries and companies a role in its programme.

Mr Straw said his words were ‘all the more disappointing’ given the European Union’s diplomatic efforts to make Iran drop its uranium enrichment programme.

‘We would and were ready to go the extra mile with the Iranians, notwithstanding their breaking the November Paris agreement,’ he said. Western Governments insist that Iran has no need of nuclear power and believe the programme is a front to develop weapons.