TEHRAN, Iran, Feb. 20, 2007

Iran Sends Mixed Signals

Ahmadinejad Remains Defiant, But Senior Nuke Negotiator Says Tehran Wants To Talk

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    • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, clenches his fist, during a public gathering during his visit to the city of Rasht, about 195 miles northwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007.

      Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, clenches his fist, during a public gathering during his visit to the city of Rasht, about 195 miles northwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007.  (AP Photo/ISNA, Mehdi Ghasemi)

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(CBS/AP)  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Western nations Tuesday to stop their own enrichment programs if they wanted his country to stop its own and return to negotiations.

Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in northern Iran one day ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline that it was no problem for his country to stop, as long as western nations did the same.

"Justice demands that those who want to hold talks with us shut down their nuclear fuel cycle program too," he said. "Then, we can hold dialogue under a fair atmosphere."

Ahmadinejad spoke in a far more conciliatory tone than the one he usually adopts, avoiding fiery denunciations of the West with a call for talks.

"We are for talks but they have to be fair negotiations. That means, both sides hold talks under equal conditions," he said.

He added, however, that it was unacceptable for countries to demand that Iran stop its nuclear activities without reciprocity.

His demand that the U.S., or any other Western nation halt uranium enrichment was highly unlikely to be met.

Ahmadinejad's comments come amid steadily increasing political tension between Washington and Tehran, with President Bush pushing the United Nations to enact tougher sanctions against Iran over the Islamic state's secretive nuclear program.

Later Tuesday, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said as he walked into a meeting with the head of the U.N. nuclear agency that his government wanted to start new talks about its enrichment program.

"We are looking for ways and means to start negotiations," said Larijani, before closed-door talks with Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Larijani's brief statement made no reference to President Ahmadinejad's demand that any country joining Iran at the negotiating table must also halt enrichment on its own soil, and it wasn't clear if his comments indicated some flexibility on that prerequisite.

The U.N. Security Council has set Wednesday as a deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment or face further economic sanctions.

ElBaradei said Monday there was still time to negotiate with Iran about its nuclear program, noting that it would take years for Tehran to produce weapons.

Mr. Bush has repeatedly accused Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon, but Ahmadinejad insists his country's enrichment program is only for energy production.

As the rhetoric between the two capitals has intensified in recent weeks, the U.S. military has increased its presence in the Persian Gulf, a move touted as a visible deterrent by American officials, but criticized as war posturing by Iran.

The White House has repeatedly denied any intention of attacking Iran.

But, according to a Monday night report by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the plans are drawn up, and the U.S. government has already determined the two circumstances which would trigger just such an attack.

The BBC, citing diplomatic sources, says the Pentagon has plans ready for airstrikes targeting Iran's known nuclear sites and most of its military installations.

It is not unusual or unexpected for the Pentagon to have contingency plans for an attack against a country deemed as a security threat, but the BBC report provided more details surrounding a potential U.S. strike against Iran.

Two things could trigger the attack, according to the report; evidence that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon, or a "high-casualty" attack against American forces in Iraq that could be traced directly to the leadership in Tehran.

As a backdrop to these criteria, U.S. officials recently said that a particularly powerful form of improvised explosive device (IED) used against American soldiers in Iraq was coming from Iran.

Military officials in Baghdad first made the accusation, and suggested that top levels of the Iranian government were involved in supplying the weapons.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace, and then Mr. Bush himself, softened that claim, saying there was no doubt the weapons came from Iran, but that it was not possible to say exactly who in Tehran was aware of their delivery to Iraq's militias.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 110 Comments
by atpay1 February 21, 2007 9:32 PM EST
Bush is a liar and a war monger and he is worse than any of the dictators that he critisizes! He doesn't care about our troops lives and he has cut VA spending so our wounded soldiers can't get the care they need ! When he took office we had a surplus now we have a trillion dollar debt!! He doesn't care that the future generations will have to pay! He will go down as the worst President we ever had !!
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by jimbo505 February 21, 2007 3:52 PM EST
 
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by jimbo505 February 21, 2007 3:48 PM EST
test
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by jimbo505 February 21, 2007 3:48 PM EST
ok
Reply to this comment
by jimbo505 February 21, 2007 3:47 PM EST
well ok
Reply to this comment
by lars008-2009 February 21, 2007 8:21 AM EST
'Obsession'
Documentary gives insight into radical Islam%u2019s global threat
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?110506/110506_fnl_obsession&%27Obsession%27&FNL&Documentary%20gives%20insight%20into%20radical%20Islam%92s%20global%20threat&Foxlife&-1&%27Obsession%27&Video%20Launch%20Page&News
http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/12min.htm
http://myspace.com/waragainstthewest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BL4-mxE87w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUpcpEQtgp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BUqXSeCDJc

this is the real threat to humanity.....
http://stopislam.cjb.net/

Terrorism Awareness Project to wake up Americans and the World
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/islamic-mein-kampf
Reply to this comment
by lars008-2009 February 21, 2007 8:20 AM EST
here's your enemy skippy..... try to remember that..... there will be a test later....
UK TV AIRS SHOCK 'UNDERCOVER' LOOK INTO MAINSTREAM BRIT MOSQUES...
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque
This is part one of the much-anticipated UK Channel 4 documentary Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, exposing evidence of Islamic supremacism, shocking misogyny, and support for violence at a number of Britain%u2019s leading mosques and Muslim institutions. (Thanks again to LGF operative kasper.)
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24018_Dispatches-_Undercover_Mosque&only

Dispatches - Undercover Mosque (1 to 6)
UK Channel 4, aired 15th January 2007.
Radicalisation of UK mosques by Saudi Wahabbism
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Dispatches+- Undercover Mosque
http://youtube.com/watch?v=peFQWuk4nuo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MuCLC8kjWCI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=x5t5EqWX92k
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yMztM0Z7BYE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=V4Zv3BUmwqs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KvjvNScmTQA
Reply to this comment
by tbweb February 21, 2007 6:19 AM EST
Terrorist like to use the same themes! I hope our fleet is aware of Iranian plans to use small speed boats like car bombs packed with explosives against our warships! If any Iranian ship gets close to our fleet I would error on the side of caution and sink it! And if Iran does pull off a stunt like that I hope the U.S. sinks their entire Navy!
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by moxford0 February 21, 2007 3:41 AM EST
singinrick

Do you hear voices from God like Bush? I think thats called schizophrenia. Treatment often requires a straight jacket. Perhaps a padded cell at Gitmo would work out better for you.
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by tbweb February 21, 2007 3:41 AM EST
-- singinrick

You left out Iran's official slogan is "Death To America!"
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by moxford0 February 21, 2007 3:12 AM EST
Maybe what Bush supporters need are anti-depressants or a straight jacket. Probably a straight jacket would be for the best.
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by moxford0 February 21, 2007 3:09 AM EST
Let's hope that George Bush does not hear another voice in his head telling him to start another war. One is quite enough. Of course we know Bush let's God call the shots for him in Iraq. Maybe what Bush needs are anti depressants or perhaps a straight jacket
Reply to this comment
by tbweb February 21, 2007 3:04 AM EST
When America is united like it was after 911 briefly, it's a scary sight for our enemies to behold. America should learn from that and it shouldn't take a 911 for America to be united like that!
Reply to this comment
by tbweb February 21, 2007 1:58 AM EST
I was talking about VietNam earlier today and mentioned some Vietnamese actually think the U.S. won the VietNam war if you look at that war from a body count point of view! The U.S. killed far more N. Vietnamese than they killed us! But technically the U.S. couldn't lose the VietNam war because the war was between S. VietNam and N. VietNam, American played a supporting role, it wasn't America's war to lose, just like in Iraq, the U.S. is in a support role! Americans can only control their military and not the other side, if the other side can't hold up their end of the deal like in VietNam and like in Iraq, I don't consider America losers, America does its part and when America fights alone and has total control in a military context America knows how to shake its thing!!
Reply to this comment
by tbweb February 21, 2007 1:27 AM EST
Former President Carter was abandoned by the Jews working with him and they trashed him too. The Jews have money, can bribe anyone with it and control too much of what we read and hear. The Jews rule! It's hard to resist that money isn't it! The truth hurts!
Reply to this comment
by moigboi-2009 February 21, 2007 1:18 AM EST
do a google search for " israeli lobby US foreign policy" and prepare to be surprised. This recent paper was released by the Harvard college of political science, and written by the Dean. It tells it all. Dean Mearscheimer resigned shortly after, sort of sudden-like. He told his story and got out. If people knew the facts, if they read these papers, and checked out the facts they present for themselves, they would be shocked.
Reply to this comment
by moigboi-2009 February 21, 2007 1:08 AM EST
censorship is alive and well here in amerika
Reply to this comment
by moigboi-2009 February 21, 2007 1:06 AM EST
The arabs did it
Reply to this comment
by moigboi-2009 February 21, 2007 1:05 AM EST
Try criticizing Israel on this site. I did and got deleted instantly!!!
Reply to this comment
by moigboi-2009 February 21, 2007 1:02 AM EST
The dirty little secret that no one wants to admit....the European Union had a poll, and one of the questions was "who is the most dangerous nation on earth?" The answer? Israel. Thats the E.U., about 17 different nations. The rest of the world knows the score. We don't. The reason we are invading the area and trying to stir up trouble with Syria and Iran is simple: they are Israel's greatest enemies. So...why are WE fighting them? Think about it....
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