Tehran criticizes West ‘unwillingness’ on talks

TEHRAN / JERUSALEM

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano (L) talks with reporters during a news briefing with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Tehran.

Iran said yesterday a delay by world powers in agreeing to preparatory talks has thrown doubt on the next round of negotiations over the country’s nuclear program, the state news agency IRNA reported.

Iran’s ISNA news agency earlier said Tehran had written twice to Britain, France, Russia, China, the United States and Germany, also known as the P5+1, seeking preparatory meetings before talks in Moscow on June 16-17, but had yet to hear back.

“The other side’s delay in meeting deputies and experts throws doubt and ambiguity on their readiness for successful talks,” said Iran’s chief negotiator Saeed Jalili in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Int’l pressure inadequate: Netanyahu
A spokeswoman for Ashton said she would contact Jalili before the planned Moscow negotiations but saw no need for further preparatory meetings.

“We are not against technical meetings in principle but timing is not really right for that,” she said. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said international pressure on Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear ambitions is “inadequate,” in comments published in a German newspaper yesterday.

Netanyahu told the daily Bild that although sanctions affected Iran and its economy, they did not halt its nuclear program. “That is because the demands that accompany the sanctions are inadequate. You apply this whole set of pressures -- for what? For practically nothing!” he said in the second part of a wide-ranging interview with the newspaper.

Warning from Russia, China
In Beijing, Russia and China oppose any use of force or unilateral sanctions against Iran, according to a joint statement released yesterday after Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese leaders.

“Russia and China are against using military force or the threat of force against Iran, and do not approve of directing unilateral sanctions against it,” the statement said. The two countries have called for dialogue to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. In the statement, they warned that continuing confrontation around Iran “can lead to negative consequences not only for the countries in the region but the entire world community.”

Compiled from Reuters and AFP stories by the Daily News staff.