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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP)
Last update - 21:09 03/08/2008
Ahmadinejad: Diplomacy only way out of nuclear standoff
By Reuters
Tags: Syria, Israel, Iran 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that diplomacy is the only way out of his country's standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear program and insisted he was serious about negotiations.

Iran's leader made the comments a day after asserting that his country would not give up its nuclear rights, signaling that it would refuse demands to stop enriching uranium or at least not to expand its enrichment work.

A spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations on Sunday called for the Security Council to increase sanctions on Iran for ignoring demands that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities.
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"They leave the Security Council no choice but to increase the sanctions, as called for in the last resolution passed," U.S. spokesman Richard Grenell said a day after an informal deadline lapsed for Iran to respond to an offer from six world powers for talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The deadline included an offer of economic and other incentives by six world powers if Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment. The United States and its European allies fear Iran intends to use the technology to develop material for nuclear weapons under the cloak of a civilian nuclear power program. Iran denies the accusation.

Ahmadinejad said Saturday that his country's participation in any international talks would be aimed at reinforcing what Iran rgards as its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for a civilian power program.

On Sunday, the Iranian leader repeated that his country was serious in nuclear talks and hopes the other side will be as well.

"In case he hasn't noticed, we are trying to talk with them," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

"The door is open, they just need to step through it by suspending their enrichment of uranium."

A round of talks on July 19 in Geneva - the first in which the U.S. participated directly - ended with a blunt American assessment that Iran was not serious.

Assad: I could help end dispute over Iran's nuclear program

Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Sunday that while he was not mediating or bringing a message from the West to Iran over its disputed nuclear plans, he could nontheless play a role to help defuse the row in future.

Assad made his comments during a two-day trip to Iran that followed a visit to Paris in July when he told French President Nicolas Sarkozy he would use his good ties with Tehran to help resolve the atomic stand-off.

The Syrian leader told a joint news conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he was "not a mediator and not an envoy and not carrying a message from any Western official."

Syria's aim, he said, was to "first understand the Iranian position and then outline if there is any possibility of playing a role or not."

"There is a Syrian role to consolidate the dialogue between Tehran and the West without affecting Iran's right to develop its nuclear program," Assad said.

"It is too early to outline this role before we hear other views from Western parties," he said, adding Syria believed strengthening dialogue was the only solution to the row.

Assad said he had told French officials that Syria's position in the dispute was based on international law and the right of Iran and any country to use peaceful nuclear energy.

Assad also met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's state radio reported.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian power programme. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, denies the charge.

Western officials gave Tehran two weeks from July 19 to respond to their offer not to impose more UN sanctions on Iran if it froze any expansion of its nuclear work.

That suggested a deadline of Aug. 2 but Iran, which has repeatedly ruled out curbing its nuclear activities, dismissed the idea of having two weeks to reply.

A joint statement said Syria and Iran discussed a range of regional issues such as the situation in Lebanon and Iraq, as well as other topics like the nuclear dossier.

"For some time now we have said that we are always ready to negotiate, to talk, but the issues that need to be discussed are numerous," Ahmadinejad told the news conference in comments translated by the English-language Press TV.

"We submitted a proposed package to Western countries and they submitted their own package of proposals to us," he said.

Iranian officials have previously said they are awaiting a reply from the six powers -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- to the Iranian ideas.

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