Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Colin Powell's message on Sunday to Iranians was contradictory.
"If the United States desires friendship with Iran, it would naturally be expected not to interfere in Iranian domestic affairs and show respect for the decisions of the Iranian people and their values," Kharrazi said in response to Powell's statement that the US is not an enemy of Iran.
According to IRIB, the Iranian minister said that Washington should be familiarized with Iranian history which proves that the people become even more united whenever the country is exposed to foreign interference.
Kharrazi noted that the US Secretary of State was aware as gathered from his message that the Iranians will not accept foreign interference in the affairs of their country.
The Iranian foreign minister blasted Powell for calling on Iranians to stand up against their government officials and interact freely with the outside world.
Powell's latest statement hints at a desire on the part of Washington to resume friendship with Iran, but ironically not a single day passes without a new conspiracy emerging to tarnish the image of the Islamic Republic before the international community, Kharrazi said.
"Washington had even blocked the sale of passenger planes to Iran that were badly needed to renovate its aging fleet and which would have prevented tragic air disasters," he conveyed.
Meanwhile, Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), Gholamreza Aqazadeh, said on Tuesday that Russia has been exposed to pressure since the early days of signing the deal on Bushehr power plant with Iran but has proceeded with the project, IRNA reported.
He told a press conference that a negligible amount of hexa floride and uranium oxide had been bought from UCF of China 12 years ago for laboratory tests which is below the minimum quantity requirement to report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"Iran and China felt no need to report the deal to the IAEA because of the low quantity of uranium. All the materials including UF4 on which examinations have been carried out are being kept at the laboratory. The materials are not sensitive," Aqazadeh said.
He said that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei raised the deal with UCF of China in his latest visit to Tehran in 2003 and gave a proposal to place the materials in the list of the IAEA safeguard. Aqazadeh said that all the materials have been placed at the disposal of the IAEA.
He said that Iran will prove to the international community that it abides by international commitments in nuclear sector and hence will win the confidence of the world public opinion.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
