Middle East News
Nuclear talks with EU futile, Iran's chief of staff says
Aug 4, 2010, 8:58 GMT
Berlin - Iran's chief of staff said Wednesday that nuclear talks with the European Union would be a waste of time, ISNA news agency reported.
'We have realized that holding nuclear talks with the EU is futile as the Europeans have nothing to say (in world politics),' Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, widely regarded as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's closest advisor, said.
Tehran insists that the main players in the nuclear dispute are the United States, Russia and China - and that the EU's presence in the negotiations has no major impact.
Ahmadinejad's also insists on direct contact with US President Barack Obama, and on Monday repeated a challenge to debate at the UN general assembly in New York in September, analysts said.
'The Americans should know that for solving the dilemmas in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, first they have to settle the nuclear dispute with Iran,' Mashaei said.
Ahmadinejad's chief aide also said the US should start talking with Iran, and know that sanctions will not stop Tehran from pursuing its nuclear projects.
The UN has ordered economic sanctions against Iran for its uranium enrichment drive, and suspicions that it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to resume nuclear talks with world powers in September, and also hold technical talks with the US, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for a uranium swap.
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