British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Monday said there are no circumstances under which Britain would agree to an attack against Iran, which is under pressure to allow more inspections of its nuclear facilities.
Straw, who ended a two-day visit to Iran on Monday, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that Iran could not be compared with its neighbor Iraq in terms of political system or danger posed to the region, although US President George W. Bush has called Iran part of an axis of evil.
Straw said no one knew if Iran was developing nuclear weapons, and added that he would urge Iranian President Mohammad Khatami later Monday to allow more intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
On Sunday, Straw called on Iran to ink additional protocol to non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Speaking in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi, he said if Iran signs the protocol, it will highly trusted in the international community.
In response to a question about guarantees to lift sanctions on Iran if the country signs the additional protocol, Straw said "I cannot say for sure when the sanctions will be lifted but I firmly announce that the international community's trust in Iran will boost." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
