West 'should use more logic to deal with Iran'

IRAN's president said yesterday it was confident US-European efforts to refer it to the UN Security Council will fail amid reluctance from Russia, China and Arab countries to take the step.

The hardliner chided the West, saying it should deal with Iran with more "logic".

However, Iran's attempts to resume negotiations on its nuclear programme met rejection from Europe and the US. France insisted Iran must first suspend its newly resumed uranium enrichment activities before any talks can be held.

"Iran must return to a complete suspension of these activities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said in Paris.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the West of trying to deprive Iran of peaceful technology.

"We are asking they step down from their ivory towers and act with a little logic," Ahmadinejad said. "Who are you to deprive us from fulfilling our goals? You think you are the lord of the world and everybody should follow you. But that idea is a wrong idea."

The US, France, Britain and Germany are trying to overcome reluctance from Russia and China to refer Iran to the Security Council. Washington and the European countries want the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to take the step during a February 2 emergency meeting of its Board of Governors. The push for referral comes after Tehran resumed some enrichment activities, ending a two-year suspension. Europe is trying to convince Iran to give up enrichment which can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material for a nuclear weapon. The US accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

To try to overcome Russian and Chinese resistance, the Europeans have put forward a draft resolution for the IAEA board to pass that stops short of asking the council to impose sanctions on Iran. Instead, it would ask the council to press Tehran "to extend full and prompt co-operation to the agency" in its investigation of suspect nuclear activities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the likelihood of Iran being put before the Security Council was "weak".

"During the past 10 days we have tried to relay our message to all relevant parties, including the Europeans, about Iran's readiness to negotiate on the production of nuclear fuel," he told state-run Iran radio.

Mottaki said he hoped European countries would avoid taking steps that could only worsen the current situation, an apparent reference to talk of sanctions.