Iran envoy tells West: no talks with 'knife in the neck'
UNITED NATIONS — Iran wants to work with the international powers on nuclear proliferation but will not negotiate with "a knife in the neck," its UN envoy said Tuesday.
Ahead of new nuclear talks between Iran and the major powers, Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said his country was not worried about international sanctions."We have shown we know how to fight, we know how to overcome sanctions, we know how to overcome our problems," Khazaee told reporters.
"We are not going to accept suggestions based on pressure and threats. It is not going to work to put a knife in the neck of somebody, or a sword, and at the same time asking him to negotiate."
Saeed Jalili, Iran's main negotiator, will meet representatives of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in Istanbul on Friday and Saturday.
The UN Security Council has passed four rounds of sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program.
The West suspects the Islamic republic is trying to build a nuclear bomb, a charge that Iran denies, saying the program is peaceful and aimed at producing nuclear energy for civilian purposes.
Khazaee said Iran wanted recognition of its strategic importance and had made proposals that could be a "roadmap" to better relations.
"We are talking about a country which from a regional point of view, economic point of view, political point of view, is a heavyweight champion in the region," he said.
"We are shouting at the world, we are telling (the international powers) that if disarmament is a real concern and you are truly concerned about that, if proliferation is an issue, if terrorism is an issue, if drug trafficking is an issue, we are ready to talk the world."
The envoy said the Istanbul talks should "pave the ground for future cooperation."
"Engagement is a strategic approach, not a tactic to buy more time," he added, while accusing the United States and its allies of making a "miscalculation about Iran, about the power of Iran and the region."
"We are clever enough to be ready for any further misjudgment, pressure," Khazaee warned.
"In case if Iran is threatened by a few, I should say manipulated ideas, or be under pressure, definitely Iran will react accordingly."
He rejected suggestions that a new Middle East conflict is likely, however.
"Having more confrontation or war in the region, if it is Iran or Syria, against Saudi Arabia or against any countries in the region, is playing with fire in a region which can fire up some or all of the world," he said.
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. (google.com/hosted news)
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