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Last update - 00:00 18/05/2006
UN chief Annan: Tone down rhetoric in Iran nuclear talks
By Reuters

TOKYO - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday those involved in negotiations over Iran's nuclear crisis should tone down their rhetoric. Annan's statement is made a day after the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, slammed an EU proposal as "candy for gold".

Annan said he pinned his hopes on diplomatic efforts, including those by the European Union, to resolve the stand-off centering on Tehran's uranium enrichment program that the West suspects has military dimensions.

"There is also a need to lower the temperature, and refrain from actions and rhetoric that could further inflame the situation," Annan said in a speech to Tokyo university students.
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On Wednesday, Iranian President turned down an expected proposal by Britain, France and Germany, the EU's three biggest powers, to offer Iran a light-water reactor to induce it to freeze uranium enrichment.

"They say we want to give Iranians incentives but they think they are dealing with a four-year-old, telling him they will give him candies or walnuts in exchange for his gold," Ahmadinejad said.

The United States and its EU allies are demanding that Iran abandon nuclear fuel activities as a guarantee that it is not trying to make atomic weapons.

But Tehran insists that the fuel is to meet increasing electricity demand and refuses to end enrichment, a process that can also produce materials for nuclear weapons.

Washington and its allies have been seeking to pass a UN Security Council resolution that would require Iran to halt all uranium enrichment work or face possible sanctions.

Annan said Iran must "lift the cloud of suspicion" regarding its nuclear activities, but added that he hoped for a diplomatic solution rather than sanctions.

"It is my strong hope that the current discussions in the Security Council will give new momentum to the quest for a negotiated solution," he said.

Annan was in Tokyo for talks with Japanese officials including Prime Minister unichiro Koizumi.
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  1.   Tone down, bend over and double standards. 11:46  |  The Doc 18/05/06
  2.   Re: The Doc 13:21  |  The King 18/05/06
  3.   Re the doc and the king 14:35  |  the populace 18/05/06
  4.   Tone down rhetoric in Iran nuclear talks 15:23  |  Joe 18/05/06
  5.   TERRIBLE LEGACY 15:31  |  BRANT 18/05/06
  6.   To # 1 Tone Down 15:48  |  Ram 18/05/06
  7.   re: #4 16:30  |  Harry 18/05/06
  8.   LET IRAN GOES NUCLEAR 16:46  |  indrajaya 18/05/06
  9.   Nuclear Israel = Nuclear Iran. 17:07  |  Helle Nyberg 18/05/06
  10.   Annan can`t stop it now 17:43  |  Mark Lincoln 18/05/06
  11.   #Joe 18:02  |  The Doc 18/05/06
  12.   To "The King": we understand too well! 18:04  |  The Doc 18/05/06
  13.   Going nuclear 18:05  |  M R Hoque 18/05/06
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