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Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator delivered an unusually sharp rebuke to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s policies Wednesday, saying they are turning more nations against Iran and failing to fix the struggling economy.

The comments by Hasan Rowhani were the harshest yet against the hard-line president by a prominent figure in the Iranian leadership, and came after critics had grown muted in recent month as the government stirred up fears of conflict with the U.S. and warned against dissent. The criticism echoed complaints early this year from conservative supporters of Ahmadinejad that his inflammatory rhetoric was needlessly goading the West in the confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program and that he hadn’t fulfilled promises to improve the economy. Rowhani was replaced as nuclear negotiator when Ahmadinejad came to office in 2005, but he remains a member of the Supreme National Security Council and sits on two powerful cleric-run bodies, the Experts Assembly and the Expediency Council.

Speaking to the pro-reform Moderation and Development Party, he did not directly mention Ahmadinejad, but was clearly referring to his policies. His comments were reported by the semiofficial ISNA and Mehr news agencies and confirmed to The Associated Press by people who heard the speech. “On the international stage, we are under threat more than any other time,” Rowhani said. “The country’s diplomacy will be successful if it doesn’t allow the enemy to win the backing of other countries against us. Unfortunately, the number of our enemies are increasing. Up to yesterday, Britain stood by the U.S., but now France has joined the United States more closely.” Rowhani had spoken little in public since he was removed as nuclear negotiator, a stint during which he helped seal a deal with the European Union under which Iran suspended uranium enrichment as a gesture to the West.

After he was replaced, Iran resumed those activities and has pushed ahead with them despite U.N. sanctions and resolutions demanding a halt. He indirectly criticized Ahmadinejad’s frequent statements dismissing the effect of U.N. sanctions on Iran, saying “the economic impact is felt in the life of the people.” Turning to Iran’s economic struggles, Rowhani said that despite high prices for Iran’s oil, “we don’t see a healthy and dynamic economy.” “If we had an accurate and comprehensive plan, most of the country’s problems could have been resolvable,” he said.

Rowhani said important policy decisions were being made by only a few people. “The views and opinions of others must be sought, too,” he said, adding, “We can’t reach adequate national unity with so much shortsightedness.” On Friday, Ahmadinejad denounced critics of his nuclear policies and made what appeared to be a dig at Rowhani for discussing the nuclear standoff with German officials during a visit to Germany in September. “There are some people inside the country … who want to intervene,” Ahmadinejad said. “Some go wayward (without authorization) and say they want to talk. And enemies welcome them since they are in a deadlock and want a pretext to get out of deadlock.” Ahmadinejad’s government insists it will continue with its nuclear program, arguing its uranium enrichment is intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that will generate electricity.

But the United States and other nations accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons in violation of its treaty commitments. France has stepped up its warnings against Iran’s program, and President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks in Russia on Wednesday seeking to crank up pressure on Tehran. In addition to his defiance of U.N. Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment, Ahmadinejad has stirred up anger in the West with statements questioning the Holocaust and calling for Israel’s Zionist regime to be “wiped from the map.” New York officials rejected his request while in the city for a U.N. meeting last month to visit the World Trade Center site to pay respects to victims of the Sept. 11 terror attack. Then during a lecture, he raised questions over the attack, saying the issues of “what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved” needed to be examined. I

n an interview with Iranian television aired Sept. 24, Ahmadinejad said the Sept. 11 attack was “a result of mismanaging and inhumane managing of the world by the U.S.” and was being used as an excuse by the U.S. to attack others. “The roots of this incident must be disclosed. It should not be turned into an idol like the Holocaust and be used for slaughtering people,” he said. “The truths behind it should not remain unknown. September 11th must not become a holy thing like the Holocaust and its deniers be deemed as unbelievers and become victims of it.”

Source: The Associated Press

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday there is no proof Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, but emphasized that Tehran must be encouraged to make its nuclear program fully transparent.

“We are sharing our partners’ concern about making all Iranian programs transparent,” Putin said at a news conference after talks with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy. “We agreed yesterday, and the president confirmed it, that Iran is making certain steps toward the international community to achieve that.” Putin is to make his first visit to Iran early next week for a summit of Caspian Sea nations. Sarkozy said Putin’s trip to Tehran could encourage Iran to be more cooperative. “After the trip, there could be a will to cooperate — that is essential,” he said.

Russia has opposed the U.S.-push for tougher sanctions against Iran and called for more checks and inspections of Iranian facilities by International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. “We have worked cooperatively with our partners at the United Nations Security Council, and we intend to continue such cooperative work in the future,” Putin said. But he said that with no “objective data” showing Iran is developing nuclear weapons, “we proceed from an assumption that Iran has no such plans.”

Iran’s past clandestine activities — and its refusal to heed U.N. Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment — have stoked suspicion among the U.S. and its allies that country is trying to create the fissile material for nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is intended only to develop an alternative source of energy. The IAEA says that it has not been able to detect signs that Iran has a weapons program, but has withheld judgment on what the Islamic Republic’s ultimate aims may be. Sarkozy has hardened France’s stance on Iran in recent months, shifting closer to the United States in his insistence on tough Security Council sanctions and even his mention of the possibility of war. While the U.S. and European nations are pressing for greater sanctions, Russia and China have resisted. Sarkozy had criticized Russia of late, recently accusing it of “brutality” in exercising its energy dominance, and courting central and eastern European leaders who bristled at Moscow’s renewed influence.

But on his first presidential visit to Russia, he struck a decidedly upbeat note after hours of talks with Putin on many touchy subjects. Sarkozy pointed at the opportunities of bilateral cooperation in such areas as space and nuclear energy, and added that France wants to be a “privileged partner of Russia.” Touching on France’s presidency in the European Union next year, he said that Russia and Europe were “natural partners.” Speaking after talks with Putin, he pointed at the need for transparency and respect for free-market rules in the bilateral economic ties and promised to take a non-discriminatory attitude toward Russian companies willing to purchase assets in France. Putin, questioned by reporters on Russian authorities’ attitude toward non-governmental organizations, also sought to moderate his tone. Western critics long have accused Putin of backsliding on democracy, muffling dissent and free media and harassing NGOs — claims the Kremlin has angrily denied. Sarkozy on Wednesday was set to meet with representatives of Russian NGOs. Putin said Wednesday that NGOs were important and his government was trying to cooperate with them, but in a steely note warned against foreign interference in Russia’s affairs: “It’s bad when such organizations are being used by one state against others to achieve some goals.”

Source: The Associated Press

Iran’s supreme leader said the country’s political establishment should be open to criticism, following a rare protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, state radio reported on Wednesday.

“We should be wary of the day when our young people in universities do not have the motivation to raise questions, issues and demands,” Ali Khamenei told a group of students and political activists on Tuesday night. “If sometimes we have said there should be no opposition to the country’s officials, this does not mean there should be no criticism,” Khamenei said. “This applies to the leadership too.”

Khamenei’s comments came two days after a group of students staged a protest against the hardline Ahmadinejad at Tehran University, calling him a “dictator” over a crackdown against student activists. And even the supreme leader voiced criticism of the current government. “I have supported (previous) governments. I support this government too. This also does not mean that I approve of every detail of the work that is being done,” Khameini said. Criticism of the authority of the supreme leader — who has the final word on all matters of state in the Islamic republic — is a punishable crime.

Source: AFP