Partial Retreat?

Wounded Ayatollahs on a Peace Offensive


Prominent Iranian Conservative Urges "Nuclear Iran"-US Dialogue

TEHRAN -- A prominent conservative figure, Mohammad Javad Larijani, called today for dialogue between "nuclear Iran" and the United States to resolve a standoff over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

Larijani, a former deputy foreign minister and ex-MP, is a brother of Iran's national security head and top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. "We should negotiate with the entire world, even with our worst enemy, the United States, we should negotiate as nuclear Iran, and have mutual commitments with the nuclear club," he said in an interview with state news agency IRNA. "Nobody welcomes Iran to the nuclear club, so we should jump over the wall since they do not want to open the door," Larijani said. "The issue of (uranium enrichment) suspension is not important if they negotiate with us as a nuclear country," he said, adding Iran should not regard suspension, as demanded by the international community, as a "taboo" subject. The United States, which accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, has led a UN Security Council campaign that resulted in December in limited sanctions on Iran for its repeated refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Enriched uranium is used in nuclear weapons as well as nuclear fuel. Iran insists its programme is for peaceful energy purposes.