Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Iranian leader dismisses EU anti-nuke incentives

Karl Vick Washington Post

TEHRAN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday swept aside the notion of Iran accepting incentives in exchange for halting uranium enrichment, dismissing an offer that European powers had yet to actually extend.

“Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold in return?” Ahmadinejad told a cheering crowd in Arak, where Iran is building a heavy-water nuclear facility.

A reactor that uses light water, a technology less likely to produce fuel suitable for nuclear weapons, is expected to be the centerpiece of a package three European governments are preparing in hopes of revitalizing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

“They say they want to offer us incentives,” Ahmadinejad said. “We tell them: Keep the incentives as a gift for yourself. We have no hope of anything good from you.”

Separately, a Foreign Ministry spokesman playfully suggested that Iran was in a better position to make offers than the Europeans.

“We are prepared to offer economic incentives to Europe in return for recognizing our right” to peaceful nuclear power, said spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, according to state radio. “Iran’s 70 million population market is a good incentive for Europe.”

Both officials’ remarks appeared to signal Iran’s comfort with its position, despite the halting international campaign to suspend its nuclear program, which the Bush administration and several European governments say is intended to produce nuclear weapons. The foreign powers are divided between Russia and China, which will not support U.N. Security Council actions that could lead to sanctions against Iran, and the United States, Britain, France and Germany, which argue that Iran will respond only to pressure.

In the latest indication that divisions remain, talks scheduled for Friday among the six countries in London were postponed, as officials sought additional time to fine-tune the bid to lure Iran back to meaningful negotiations.