Ahmadinejad Sheds No New Light On Iran's Nuclear Plan
President Obama leads a U.N. Security Council meeting on nuclear non proliferation Thursday. By doing so, he's sending a message to Iran that the U.S. and its partners are committed to keeping their end of the bargain in the nuclear non proliferation treaty — and expect others will meet their obligations as well. But if Iran's president is feeling pressured, he certainly wasn't showing it when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday night.
STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN: The General Assembly floor had pretty much emptied out by the time Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to the podium to speak. He spent much of the time railing against Israel and against unbridled capitalism and trying to deflect widespread international criticism about the elections in June. While protestors outside the U.N. accused him of stealing that vote, Ahmadinejad, through an interpreter, called Iran one of the most democratic governments in the world.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD: (Through translator) Our nation has successfully gone through a glorious and fully democratic election, opening a new chapter for our country in a march towards national progress and enhanced international interactions.
KELEMEN: The Iranian leader did not address international concerns about his country's nuclear ambitions, though he responded somewhat to President Obama's outstretched hand. Again, he spoke through an interpreter.
AHMADINEJAD: (Through translator) Our nation is prepared to warmly shake all those hands which are honestly extended to us.
KELEMEN: While he was in the general assembly hall to speak, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was meeting downstairs with her counterparts from the European Union, Russia and China to prepare for a meeting they're going to have with the Iranians in October. She came out saying they're all united on their strategy.
HILLARY CLINTON: We have consistently said that Iran is entitled to peaceful nuclear power. They are not entitled to a nuclear weapons program.
KELEMEN: Clinton was joined by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who read out the official statement from the group of world powers dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue.
DAVID MILIBAND: The meeting on the first of October will provide an opportunity to seek a comprehensive, long-term and appropriate solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation. We expect a serious response from Iran and we'll decide in the context of our duel track approach as a result of our meeting on our next steps.
KELEMEN: Next steps could include tougher sanctions against Iran. Even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, whose government has been skeptical about such an approach, held out the possibility for more sanctions after he met yesterday with President Obama.
DMITRY MEDVEDEV: (Through translator) Sanctions rarely lead to productive results. But in some cases, sanctions and inevitable.
KELEMEN: Michele Kelemen, NPR News, New York.
INSKEEP: President Obama is not expected to meet Iran's president here in New York this week, but there are certainly discussions about Iran. And NPR's Don Gonyea is still with us. And Don, what kind of discussions have been going on?
DON GONYEA: Iran comes up at every bilateral meeting. We heard Michele reference the session with the president and Mr. Medvedev yesterday. And the White House is really trumpeting what Mr. Medvedev said. He said we believe we need to help Iran to take a right decision. He went on to say that they need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The White House sees that as real progress - they were really happy to hear it. And that topic...
INSKEEP: The suggestion that Russia is onboard with pressing Iran in some fashion.
GONYEA: Exactly. We don't know how we move forward yet, but that was the lead out of that meeting yesterday.
INSKEEP: Don, good talking with you.
GONYEA: Thank you.
INSKEEP: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
Copyright © 2009 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.