Khatami thumbs down to European draft
Tehran: Iran will not accept a draft proposed by three European nations criticising its nuclear activities if the UN nuclear watchdog agency approves it, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said today. Khatami also told reporters after a Cabinet meeting that Iran has no "moral" commitment to suspend nuclear enrichment if the current trend at the IAEA continues. He stopped short of saying that Iran will resume the enrichment process. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi bitterly accused Britain, France and Germany today of bowing to US pressure and submitting a draft resolution to the UN nuclear watchdog that is highly critical of the Islamic republic. "The draft resolution proposed by the European countries on the board of the IAEA corresponds to the wishes of the United States," he was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA. —AP