Tehran: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei said on Tuesday that Iran will reject any dialogue if its
outcome is pre-determined by Washington, raising the
possibility a mooted nuclear fuel deal may be derailed.
Khamenei's comments came as world powers turned up the
heat on Iran to accept the UN-brokered nuclear deal, with US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying Iran was at a
"pivotal moment" to show it did not want to be isolated
from the international community.
Iran is engaged in high-profile UN-hosted talks with
world powers over how to procure nuclear fuel for a Tehran
research reactor.
But officials here are increasingly opposed to the
proposed deal under which Iran would send low-enriched uranium
(LEU) abroad for conversion into fuel for the Tehran reactor.
They say they would rather buy the fuel directly.
Today, Khamenei, Iran's all-powerful leader who has the
final say in all national issues, raised the possibility the
UN-brokered deal may fail.
"We do not want any negotiation, the result of which is
pre-determined by the United States," Khamenei said in a
speech on the eve of Wednesday's 30th anniversary of the US
embassy seizure by radical students.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 18:10