Mohammad-Ali Hosseini Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman weekly briefing
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Sunday voiced Iran`s readiness to respond to the remaining ambiguities on the country`s peaceful nuclear activities by March 2008.
Talking to reporters during his weekly press briefing he added, `Tehran is ready to respond to the the remaining ambiguities regarding Iran`s peaceful nuclear program to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by March 2008.
` `Iran considers itself responsive to the UN nuclear agency within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),` he added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said that Iran`s messages and considerations on Iran-US talks on Iraq have been sent to Washington through Iraqi authorities.
He added, `As soon as the Americans respond to these messages and considerations, decisions will be made on date and level of future talks on Iraq.
` `Serious confrontation with terrorist groups in Iraq and handing over the security affairs to Iraqi officials are among Iran`s considerations regarding the issue,` Hosseini said.
He urged Washington `not to adopt policies which would lead to instability in Iraq in the future`.
On Iran-Kuwait cooperation, Hosseini said the first session of Iran-Kuwait Joint Commision will be held on January 14-16 in Tehran.
The session will be attended by the two foreign ministers, he added.
Iran`s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has had a proper pace, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Sunday.
`Iran-IAEA cooperation is aimed at removing outstanding ambiguities and is taking place within the framework of their action plan,` Hosseini stressed during his weekly press conference.
He made the remarks commenting on statements by the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei who recently said cooperation between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog should promote and get a quicker pace.
The IAEA chief left the Iranian capital Sunday morning winding up a two-day visit to the country during which he made important meetings with senior Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
`Issues which have so far been settled between Iran and the IAEA were all resolved within the timetable` agreed by tow sides, Hosseini said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, advised US President George Bush on Sunday to reconsider his previous wrong policies regarding Iran before the end of his tenure.
`During the past seven years, the Bush administration has followed a policy to isolate Iran and promote Iranophobia in the region,` Hosseini said at his weekly press conference.
However, he stressed, `All regional states adopted a vigilant approach regarding that policy and opposed it,` stressed the spokesman.
Despite all US anti-Iran policies in the Persian Gulf region, `We are now witnessing progress in cooperation between Iran and regional countries,` Hosseini said noting that the regional states `attach no importance to US policies vis-a-vis Iran.
` He made the remarks commenting on President Bush`s visit to the region which according to Hosseini aimed at `fanning the fuel of Iranophobia among regional states and winning more support for the Zionist regime.
` He stressed that recent comments made by the US president in the Occupied Territories indicated that Washington was trying to intensify disputes among various Palestinian groups and promote disrespect for the votes of Palestinians and their elected government.
The US president is currently in the United Arab Emirates on the third leg of his tour to the Middle East region.
The regional nations, including Palestinians, would not accept US acting as peace maker between Palestine and Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Sunday.
`Regional nations see US and Israel at one front,` Hosseini said at his weekly press briefing.
He made the remarks commenting on the recent visit to the region of US President George Bush.
The US president, currently in the United Arab Emirates, has earlier visited the Palestinian occupied lands.
`The US and Israel are against the interest of Palestinian people,` Hosseini added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini urged Washington to apologize to Iran for efforts to mislead public opinion on Iranian speedboats patrolling in the Persian Gulf.
He added, `It is quite obvious why the Americans try to distort realities through media campaign, he said.
Referring to the patrolling of Iranian speedboats in the Persian Gulf as a routine work, he said the Americans by making hue and cry tried to create Iranophobia in line with the objectives of President Bush`s tour to the region.
However, they were faced with indifferent attitude of the regional states, he added.
`For their attempts to mislead the public opinion, the US officials should apologize to Iran, regional states and the American people,` Hosseini said.
He added that the encounter was merely a routine question of identifying the warships passing through the territorial waters and was carried out within the framework of international regulations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, said on Sunday that Iran is critical of the nuclear case to remain at the UN Security Council and regards it as `unreasonable`.
`As taking to the Security Council of Iran`s nuclear case contradicted the respective criteria, keeping it at the council has also not legal and logical basis,` Hosseini said at his weekly briefing.
He said that during visit to Tehran of Director-General of International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, Iran called for necessary efforts to be made by the agency to take back the case.
The IAEA`s director general wound up his two-day visit to Iran on Sunday morning after making separate meetings with senior Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Hosseini said that ElBaradei visited Iran `to get to know the ideas of senior Iranian officials and exchange views with them.
` During their talks with ElBaradei, the high-ranking Iranian officials stressed the need for preserving the IAEA`s independence as an international body, Hosseini said.
