Iran Says No to Russian Compromise Proposal
Iran said Sunday that it had ruled out a Russian proposal aimed at defusing tensions over its nuclear program, drawing criticism from a senior lawmaker in Moscow who said the decision destroyed the last chance for compromise before the U.N. Security Council takes up the issue this week.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also warned that Iran was considering large-scale uranium enrichment at home.
“The Russian proposal is not on our agenda anymore,” Asefi told reporters. “Circumstances have changed. We have to wait and see how things go with the five veto-holding countries” on the Security Council -- Russia, Britain, China, France and the U.S. The council could impose sanctions on Iran.
In Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, head of parliament’s international affairs committee, said Iran’s decision meant the end of chances for a compromise, Russian media reported.
The U.S. and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it only aims to produce energy.
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