Iran's
hard-line President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
on Sunday
compared the power
of Iran's
enemies to a
"mosquito,"
saying
Iran now deals with
the West over its
nuclear activities
from a position of
power.
The comment from
Ahmadinejad came as
Iran is negotiating
with the West over a
U.N.-backed proposal
to ship its uranium
abroad for further
enrichment. The
UN-brokered plan
would require Iran
to send 1.2 tons (or
1,100 kilograms) of
low-enriched uranium
-
around 70 percent of
its stockpile - to
Russia in one batch
by year's end, for
processing to create
more refined fuel
for a Tehran
research reactor.
"While enemies have
used all their
capacities ...
the Iranian nation
is standing
powerfully and they
are like a mosquito,"
a government Web
site quoted
Ahmadinejad early
Sunday as saying.
Ahmadinejad also
said
Iran doesn't trust
the West when it
sits for talks.
"Given the negative
record of Western
powers, the Iranian
government ... looks
at the talks with no
trust. But
realities dictate to
them to interact
with the Iranian
nation," he said
according to the
site.
The U.S. and its
allies have been
pushing for the
U.N.-backed
agreement as a way
to reduce Iran's
stockpile of
low-enriched uranium
to prevent the
possibility that
Iran may turn them
into weapons-grade
uranium, materials
needed for the core
of a nuclear bomb.
Iranian opposition
to the U.N. plan
could be driven by
concerns
that the proposal
would weaken Iran's
control over its
stockpiles of
nuclear fuel and
could be perceived
as a concession to
the West.
