GENEVA: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Friday said that Tehran will not use its oil supplies as a lever in the dispute with Western countries over its controversial nuclear programme.
"We believe the provision of energy is vital for the world. We will remain true to our obligations to provide for the energy needs of our partners. We are not going to use energy as a political leverage," Mottaki told reporters, when asked whether Tehran would turn its oil into a bargaining chip.
Iran refused on Thursday to comply with a UN Security Council demand to freeze uranium enrichment, defying a warning from major world powers which fear that the Islamic republic secretly wants to develop an atomic bomb. Mottaki hammered home that message on Friday, saying: "Iran has decided not to cave in to threats."
Foreign ministers of the UN Security Council’s five permanent members-China, Britain, France, Russia and the United States-plus Germany had said at talks on Thursday in Berlin that Iran would find itself isolated if it pursued the standoff over its nuclear programme. That warning had followed a non-binding statement approved unanimously by the world body late on Wednesday, which gave Iran 30 days to abandon uranium enrichment activities.
"We don’t feel the (permanent) five equals the world," Mottaki said. Iran insists that its nuclear research is for peaceful, civilian purposes, saying that it needs to meet the country’s growing power needs.
"A compromise is still possible in these 30 days but if you refer to the possibility of Iran giving up its legal right, this is not going to happen," said Mottaki.
"We cannot give up the rights of the Iranian nation, but having said that, we are ready to conduct a negotiation and hopefully to reach an agreement on the methods that will help secure these rights." "In a nutshell, we cannot give up the right of Iran but in the context of a general formula we are ready to reach an agreement," he reaffirmed. Asked whether Tehran fears the potential threat of an international embargo if it sticks to its position, Mottaki said: "I don’t think there is a lot of chance of sanctions being put into place."
Mottaki was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, a Swiss think-tank.
