A senior Iranian official Sunday denied a press report which claimed Tehran would welcome Senator John Kerry's proposal for a "great bargain" to solve dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
"US presidential candidate John Kerry's proposal is part of his electoral campaigning and we are not interested in being drawn into these issues," head of the foreign policy committee at Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Hossein Mousavian said, according to IRNA.
Reuters news agency had quoted him as having welcomed the proposal, virtually made by vice presidential candidate Senator John Edwards.
Edwards had said that Kerry would be willing to supply Iran with nuclear fuel for power generation if Tehran abandons its own fuel-making capability and if Iran did not accept this offer, it would confirm Iran wanted to make an atomic bomb.
In a fax sent to IRNA, Mousavian stressed, "Reuters news agency has filed a news as if I had welcomed Kerry's proposal. "But we are rejecting direct negotiations with Washington about Iran's nuclear program due to the American antagonistic policies."
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Iran Sunday for an official visit, which is expected to focus on the two countries' nuclear cooperation as well as their fight against terrorism, IRNA said.
During his two-day trip, Lavrov is expected to meet his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi and Iran's marksman on nuclear issues, Hassan Rowhani as well as the country`s Parliament Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel.
Russia is helping Iran build the country's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, but is pressured by the United States to abandon this project. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
