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Security Council ‘insult’ Iran, Turkey, Brazil: Iran speaker

GENEVA — The UN Security Council and the United States “insulted” Iran, Turkey and Brazil, by imposing fresh sanctions despite a nuclear deal between the three parties, Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Tuesday.

Larijani said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had received letters from US President Barack Obama requesting for help so “we can embark on a new path” on the nuclear dossier.

But when Turkey, Brazil and Iran announced a nuclear fuel swap deal in May, Washington expressed reservations.

Under the accord signed May 17, Tehran would ship around half its stock of low-enriched uranium to Turkey and months later receive a supply of more highly enriched uranium suitable for research and medical use.

The United States also led the push at the UN Security Council for fresh sanctions against Tehran.

“After that what the Security Council and the US did is like an insult to these three countries — Iran, Turkey and Brazil,” said Larijani.

“They gave a mission to (Turkey and Brazil) and ... we had a deal and after that they betrayed them,” added Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator.

Asked for his assessment of Iran and Russia’s relationship after Moscow backed the UN sanctions, Larijani said: “The relationship we have with Russia is normal.”

But he stressed that he was opposed to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s statement last week calling for Tehran to provide explanations over its nuclear ambitions and to cooperate with the international community.

“I am opposed to what President Medvedev has said. With Mr Putin we have defined a very active diplomacy and relationship,” he said, referring to the former Russian president who is now prime minister.

“We don’t want to live in a kind of political fantasy world.

“The reality is that the Russians know very well that we don’t have nuclear weapons and the Americans know it too. Therefore it is not really justified when they expressed any concerns about something that they know very well about,” claimed Larijani.