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Friday Sermon: Iran Ready For Nuclear Talks – If U.S. And Its Allies Set No Preconditions And "Negotiate Honestly"; U.S. At "Dead End;" IAEA Report "Not Sincere"
In his sermon today, Friday interim prayer leader for Tehran Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the only solution for Iran's nuclear issue is negotiations in which the U.S. and its allies set no preconditions and negotiate honestly.
Rafsanjani, who is also Expediency Council chairman, said, "We believe the solution is for them to remove preconditions and negotiate honestly. If there is an ambiguity, Iran will settle it, and if there is not, they should let Iran exercise its inalienable right," Rafsanjani told worshippers in a sermon at Friday prayers.
He dismissed U.S. allegations that Iran had conducted a study into building atomic weapons as a pretext to impose tougher sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Rafsanjani advised the U.S. to adopt a logical approach towards Iran’s scientific developments, saying that a hostile policy on Iran "will hurt more the U.S. than us... The U.S. has admitted that it has reached a dead end in Iraq and Afghanistan."
He asked what the Americans had gained from their adventurism in the world that they seek another adventure in Iran, and said, "No one is able to uproot the tree of knowledge that gets stronger with the passage of each new day."
He also criticized International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed Elbaradei for presenting an ambiguous report on Iran’s nuclear activities: "Elbaradei was not sincere in his report and presented the issues in a way that others could misuse them."
Sources: IRNA, Mehr, IRIBnews, Iran, March 14, 2008
Posted at: 2008-03-14
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