Iranian nuclear negotiator Sirus Naseri said that Iran will not accept the European Union's proposal to provide nuclear fuel to the country. Iran has not yet observed any indication that the Europeans intend to waste time, he said in a conference in Mashhad entitled "Nuclear Dossier, Victory, Defeat or Withdrawal", the Qods daily reported on Thursday. "The fact that the Europeans have proposed to offer fuel to Iran is considered in itself a victory for the country, although this was not what we were aiming for," said Naseri, who heads the Iran-EU nuclear working group. "If they had suggested this seven or eight years ago, we might have accepted, but now we won't," he added.Naseri predicted that an extensive propaganda attack would be initiated about Iran's nuclear program in the next six months. "Of course we have also taken the necessary precautions," he stressed. Naseri said the nuclear issue had become a challenge for Iran, adding that there is a certain potential in the nuclear program that could provide exceptional opportunities for the country. Pointing out that the recent negotiations between Iran and Europe were their most intense in the past 25 years, he said Iran-EU ties would be seriously damaged if the process of talks failed to reach an appropriate conclusion. The nuclear negotiator added that Iran has followed a very difficult path with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the past 16 months.
He said that terrorism is one of the issues on the agenda of Iran-Europe political-security working group but added that discussions would only focus on the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) and the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The Europeans are well aware that Iran will simply break off negotiations if they use threatening language or attempt to deceive the country, he stressed. "If they make mischief, it will not be difficult to end the whole show," he observed. Asked about Europe's agreement to help Iran join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Naseri stated that this was not a response to a demand from Iran "but a proposal from Europe". However, it seems that they have failed to live up to what they proposed themselves, Naseri said.