September 24, 2008
NEW YORK: The US and five other powers have called off plans for high-level talks at the UN this week to debate further sanctions against Iran, after Russia complained of American attempts to "punish" it.
The move came after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised to pursue nuclear technology despite Western “bullying”.
Iran “will resist the bullying and has defended and will continue to defend its rights,” Mr Ahmadinejad said in a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly.
In a clear reference to the US and its allies, he said: “They oppose other nations' progress and tend to monopolise technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations.”
He also lashed out at Israel, saying “the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters”.
On the presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous remarks", saying he was "disappointed that he had a platform to air his hateful and anti-Semitic views".
Despite three rounds of UN security council sanctions, Iran continues to defy calls by the US and its Western allies to halt uranium enrichment - a process the West and Israel fear is being used to make an atomic bomb.
Iran says it aims only for peaceful civilian nuclear energy.
The cancellation of the meeting on Iran in New York involving US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came amid rising US-Russian tensions over the crisis in Georgia.
“There is not going to be a P5-plus-one ministers meeting” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
The permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany were to meet on Thursday to consider possible further sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
However, Mr McCormack said Dr Rice would hold a one-on-one meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday.
The Russian foreign ministry said earlier that Moscow was against the planned meeting of the six powers, referring to US attempts to “punish” Russia, apparently over its August 8 incursion into Georgia.
The statement appeared to indicate it was walking away from the meeting.
Speaking in New York before the US announcement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that the possible cancellation of the ministerial meeting would make it “difficult” to bring pressure to bear on Iran.
NEW YORK: The US and five other powers have called off plans for high-level talks at the UN this week to debate further sanctions against Iran, after Russia complained of American attempts to "punish" it.
The move came after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised to pursue nuclear technology despite Western “bullying”.
Iran “will resist the bullying and has defended and will continue to defend its rights,” Mr Ahmadinejad said in a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly.
In a clear reference to the US and its allies, he said: “They oppose other nations' progress and tend to monopolise technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations.”
He also lashed out at Israel, saying “the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters”.
On the presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous remarks", saying he was "disappointed that he had a platform to air his hateful and anti-Semitic views".
Despite three rounds of UN security council sanctions, Iran continues to defy calls by the US and its Western allies to halt uranium enrichment - a process the West and Israel fear is being used to make an atomic bomb.
Iran says it aims only for peaceful civilian nuclear energy.
The cancellation of the meeting on Iran in New York involving US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came amid rising US-Russian tensions over the crisis in Georgia.
“There is not going to be a P5-plus-one ministers meeting” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
The permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany were to meet on Thursday to consider possible further sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
However, Mr McCormack said Dr Rice would hold a one-on-one meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday.
The Russian foreign ministry said earlier that Moscow was against the planned meeting of the six powers, referring to US attempts to “punish” Russia, apparently over its August 8 incursion into Georgia.
The statement appeared to indicate it was walking away from the meeting.
Speaking in New York before the US announcement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that the possible cancellation of the ministerial meeting would make it “difficult” to bring pressure to bear on Iran.
Source: The Australian
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