TEHRAN, Jan 19, (Agencies): Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokes-man Ramin Mihman-Parast on Tuesday voiced his country’s willingness to hold a bilateral meeting with the Kuwaiti side at experts’ level regarding shared oil fields.
In his weekly press briefing, Mihman-Parast said “we previously voiced willingness to hold a meeting with the Kuwaiti side to reach an outcome in this regard.” His comments were in response to statements made by Kuwaiti Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah two days ago, regarding the oil fields in question.
“It is a good opportunity to talk with Kuwaiti officials on these issues and we hope efforts exerted in this regard have good results,” he noted.
As for Sheikh Dr Mohammad’s other statement on Kuwait abiding by any international resolution that might impose new sanctions on Iran, Mihman-Parast said “all countries should take decisions according to their interest and based on sound facts.
“Yet, sometimes, views could be politically-oriented, a publicity stunt or a result of pressure... Some friends may have ambiguities or points of view that can be brushed away through negotiations.”
Mihman-Parast went on to say “we think all countries in the region should care for clear prospects of the future of the area through cooperation and solidarity, as tension caused by some foreign countries should not deprive peoples of this region to have utmost benefit from political decisions.”
Iran’s defence minister warned on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic could strike back at Western warships in the Gulf if it were attacked over its nuclear programme, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Ahmad Vahidi said there were now more than 90 war vessels in the Gulf — a waterway crucial for global oil supplies — and that they had created a “military environment” there.
They included submarines, aircraft carriers and destroyers, he said during a conference in Tehran on the Gulf.
“What is the reason underlying the deployment of this many warships and what aim are they pursuing ... are they arrayed against Iran?” Fars quoted Vahidi as saying.
“The Westerners know well that the existence of these warships in the Gulf serve as the best operational targets for Iran if they should want to undertake any military action against Iran,” he said.
Iran has often warned it would retaliate for any attack on its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a drive to develop bombs. Tehran denies the charge.
Neither Israel nor the United States have ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the long running row over Iran’s disputed nuclear ambitions.
“The Americans have made conflicting comments (on the possibility of an attack on Iran),” the official IRNA news agency quoted Vahidi as saying.
Last month, Vahidi said Iran would strike back at Israeli weapons manufacturing sites and nuclear installations if the Jewish state attacked the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
Israel is believed to be the only nuclear-armed Middle East state. Iran has often said it has missiles able to reach the Jewish state.
Iran, the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, says its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity, not making bombs, but its failure to convince world powers about the peaceful nature of its work has led to UN and US sanctions.
Sanctions
Iran faces further sanctions unless it changes stance in talks over its nuclear programme, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, even if there is no United Nations agreement to act against Tehran.
Iran has ignored US President Barack Obama’s end-2009 deadline to respond to an offer from six world powers of economic and political incentives in exchange for halting its uranium enrichment programme.
At a meeting of those countries on Saturday, intended to discuss prospects for further sanctions against Iran, China made clear it opposed more punitive action, at least for now.
“Germany has made clear that if Iran’s reaction does not change, we will be working on a comprehensive package of sanctions,” Merkel said at a joint news conference in Berlin with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Of course we would prefer it if these (sanctions) could be agreed within the framework of the United Nations Security Council,” she said, adding that officials would be working to that end in the coming weeks.
“But Germany will take part in sanctions with other countries that are pursuing the same goal,” she said.
The European Union, which hosted Saturday’s meeting at its New York office, said that despite the lack of concrete outcome, further sanctions were now on the big-power agenda and the six would be in contact again soon to continue the discussions.
The six countries involved in the talks are the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China.
All except China sent top level foreign ministry officials to the meeting. Beijing sent only a mid-ranking diplomat, to the dismay of the four Western countries.
Three previous rounds of UN sanctions have targeted Iran’s nuclear and missile industries, but Iran has shrugged them off and said it plans to pursue its right to enrich uranium, which can have both civilian and military uses.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran had exchanged messages with major powers on its nuclear energy programme and saw signs of progress.
“There have been ongoing negotiations and messages are being exchanged so we have to just wait. There are some minor signs indicating a realistic approach, so any probable developments or progress can be discussed later,” Mottaki said in Tehran.
Western diplomats said that whenever it has faced a serious prospect of new sanctions, Iran has begun lobbying key powers and made an appearance of offering concessions.
“The credible threat of further pressure does create some leverage over the Iranian system,” one diplomat involved in the talks about sanctions said.
Netanyahu, speaking alongside Merkel in Berlin, said the time had come to apply “crippling sanctions” against Iran over its nuclear programme.
“If we don’t apply sanctions, crippling sanctions against this Iranian tyranny, when shall we apply them? If not now, when? The answer is now,” he said.
Israel, assumed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, sees Iran’s project as a threat to its existence, citing hostile rhetoric against the Jewish state by Iranian leaders.
It has not ruled out using force if diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions fail to stop Iran’s nuclear plans.
Flexibility
China urged other powers on Tuesday to show more flexibility in dealing with Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, playing down prospects of sanctions after six countries met to discuss the standoff.
While Western powers have looked to further sanctions against Iran over its rejection of a UN plan to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Russia and now especially China have resisted such steps and called for more negotiations.
Envoys from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China met in New York at the weekend to discuss the standoff. The Chinese delegate at those talks reiterated Beijing’s position that it does not back further sanctions against Iran for now.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu reinforced that stance on Tuesday, avoiding even using the word “sanctions” in replying to reporters’ questions about the meeting.
“Our consistent proposal has been to resolve the Iran nuclear issue appropriately through dialogue and consultation,” Ma told a regular news briefing.
“We hope all sides will enhance dialogue and cooperation, and show a more flexible and pragmatic approach,” he said.
Free
Tehran urged the French authorities on Tuesday to free an Iranian engineer facing extradition to the United States for allegedly breaking the trade embargo on Iran.
According to US authorities, 37-year-old Majid Kakavand sent electrical components and measuring devices bought in the United States to Iran via a company in Malaysia.
Kakavand was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in March 2009 after holidaying in France, and the appeal court in the French capital is due to rule on Washington’s extradition application on Feb 17.
“He is going on trial despite being innocent. We denounce France’s act,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.
“This is due to political pressure from the United States and it is illegal. They should take some serious action and free him as soon as possible,” he said.
The United States says the equipment had both civilian and military uses and therefore permission was needed to export it to Iran.
But an expert called by Kakavand’s legal team said the equipment was not of a high enough standard to be used in the defence or space industries.
Mehmanparast insisted that documents used against Kakavand “are forgeries based on political motives and wrong attitudes pursued by the United States.”
Iran arrested French researcher Clotilde Reiss during the post-election unrest in July and has put her on trial over taking part in anti-government protests. The revolutionary court is expected to rule on her fate this week.
Both Iranian and French authorities have rejected the possibility of swapping the pair.
Arrested
More than 40 people have been arrested on the basis of tip-offs after police circulated photographs of demonstrators at a December rally which turned deadly, a police website reported on Tuesday.
But the reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami defended the protesters and condemned the new wave of arrests of government critics launched after the bloody protests during the Shiite mourning rituals of Ashura on Dec 27.
In a rare measure police publicised photographs of the protesters encouraging people to help with their arrest.
“After the publication of pictures of Ashura day rioters on the police website and in the police special edition ... more than 40 elements of sedition were identified and arrested with the cooperation of noble Iranians,” the website said.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose disputed June re-election has triggered a string of protests over the past seven months, has accused Iran’s archfoes the United States and Israel of organising the Ashura demonstration.
The special edition of a police publication, which came out on January 13, ran photographs taken on the Ashura day of anti-government demonstrators.
The eight-page publication appealed for the general public to come forward with “information and documents regarding the photographs,” providing a phone number for informants.
It ran close-up shots of men and women on the capital’s streets, with the faces of wanted participants in the rally circled in red. Some of the pictures show a police car being attacked and stone-throwers.
Eight people were killed as clashes erupted between security forces and opposition supporters on the day.
Despite the roundup, Khatami, a key figure in the opposition camp which has infuriated hardliners with its street protests, defended the protesters.
Khatami, who was meeting with a group of released post-vote detainees, slammed those in power who “commit violence with complete immunity” against demonstrators.
Iranian authorities say several hundred people were rounded up on the Ashura day, without giving a precise figure. A small number of them have since gone on trial, according to newspaper reports.
Khatami also accused Iran’s leadership of lying to the people.
“Many lies have been told these days and many promises have been made but people see those in charge of their affairs have not done much,” the former president said.
“So people realise that many of the protesters are not ill-intentioned and their protest is reasonable,” he said in comments carried by his Baran Organisation’s website.
Ahmadinejad’s opponents have accused the hardliner of trying to cover up his failures, especially in managing the economy, while the opposition has rejected his re-election as massively rigged.