DUSHANBE, August 1, 2008, Asia-Plus – U.S. threats of new sanctions against Iran will only harm the constructive dialogue between the West and Tehran on its nuclear program, Iran”s permanent representative to the IAEA said Thursday.
The U.S. State Department reiterated on Wednesday that Iran had until Saturday”s deadline to respond to a package of incentives that require the country to suspend its uranium enrichment or it would face “diplomatic consequences.”
“The statements made by U.S. officials that Iran must suspend its uranium enrichment program do not deserve any attention and only harm the constructive atmosphere, reached during the talks [in Geneva],” Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh told Iran”s Press TV.
“We believe that rather than making these statements they should seek ways for continued constructive dialogue on a peaceful resolution of the problems,” he said.
The July 19 talks in Geneva between Iranian security council chief Saeed Jalili and envoys from the group of six world powers – China, France, Russia, the United States, Germany and Britain – ended in a stalemate as Iran said it would not discuss a demand to halt its uranium enrichment, which the West suspects is geared towards weapons production.
