Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir), iYvonne Ridley said Tehran’s agreement to transfer its enriched uranium is a move to silence Western detractors and will reveal “if they are motivated by malice or commonsense”.
“Iran is a country which has never been an aggressor. Nor has it have a history in the last two centuries of invading neighbouring countries. By transferring most of its enriched uranium, Iran is further announcing to the world that it is a peaceful nation prepared to embark on a more transparent path with regards to its nuclear energy program,” Ridley told Iran News agency.
Criticising the Western double standards, she said the West has ignored the nuclear weapons of Israel as “a Zionist regime which has historically proven itself not to be peaceful”.
She said the time has come for the US to acknowledge the “real elephant sitting in the living room and that is the nuclear stockpile festering in the Zionist regime”.
Ridley hoped the West would continue negotiations with Iran, even though she cast doubt on the real intentions of the Group 5+1 in reconciling with Iran.
“Commonsense dictates that the way forward is now through negotiations but sadly commonsense and US foreign policy are rarely found in the same sentence. In terms of negotiations and international relations America is still the new kid on the block; a country with a history of barely a few hundred years unlike the nation of Iran which has a history stretching back many thousands of years.”
She also said any further sanctions will be ineffective as they only serve to “make the innocents weaker and alienate entire swathes of the affected populations from those who drive through these draconian measures.”
Ridley further praised Turkey for its growing role as a power broker in the region.
“Turkey plays a pivotal role as a bridge between East and West physically, politically and strategically,” she said, adding that with Tehran Declaration, it is difficult to see how the US and its allies can complain or object.
Following talks between Iran, Turkey and Brazil on Monday, Tehran agreed to send 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium which will be used as nuclear fuel for the country’s medical research reactor.
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