Iran Displays Positive Attitude Towards New Conditions

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is currently on an official visit to Senegal, declared during a midnight conference in Dakar on Wednesday, that Iran is fully prepared to meet what he labeled as the "new conditions" on the nuclear dispute, without expanding on it, and that the international standoff regarding this matter could be solved only by cooperation, dialogue and mutual understanding.

"We are ready for new conditions. We are partisan to dialogue and negotiation and we believe that we can resolve the problems in a context of dialogue and of justice together", he declared.

Through a translator, Ahmadinejad highlighted his country's support for negotiations and dialogue and added that the Washington administrations' sanctions would not be enacted, given that there are no reasons for such punitive measures: "I don't believe there will be sanctions because there is no reason to have sanctions. It would be preferable for the U.S. officials not to speak in anger", he replied smilingly. "I am announcing that we are available, we are ready for new conditions", he reiterated.

Ahmadinejad's surprising statement comes just a day after the United States Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Gregory Schulte, officially announced that the Washington administration continues to strongly believe that Iran maintains its drive for acquiring the proper technology and equipment in order to develop nuclear weapons. These details, as well as the fact that Iran has recently assembled 164 additional centrifuges within the Nantz plant, which in turn doubled their number, were featured in an official letter that Schulte sent to the board of IAEA inspectors.

The letter also highlighted the fact that Iran continues to build another nuclear power plant in Araq, where a heavy water plant has also been launched, 120 tons of uranium have been turned to gas, while 160 more will suffer the same process. The document also mentioned that Iran continues to prevent inspections performed by IAEA officials, which is a very good indication of the country's true ambitions.