TEHRAN REJECTS EU’S CONDITIONS FOR SIGNING TRADE AGREEMENT

TEHRAN 12 Sept. (IPS) As expected, Iran categorically rejected Thursday some conditions set by the European Union for inking a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), including an unprecedented demand that Tehran recognizes both Israel and Palestine.

"We will not accept any preconditions from the E.U. for implementing the Ttrade Agreement", the official news agency IRNA quoted Mr. Ali Ahani, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister as having said, in a first reaction to Tuesday's E.U. statement on Iran.

“Mr. Ahani was referring to the E.U. ultimatum that without implementing specified political requests, the first-ever Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the two sides - inked in July and scheduled to be discussed in October - could be derailed”, IRNA reported.

In a statement faxed to international media in Tehran, the Danish Embassy said during the talks on the TCA, the European representative, Arne Peterson called on the Islamic Republic to acknowledge the existence of both Israel and Palestine, in an effort to help the peace and security in the Middle East”.

The 15-members Organisation, Iran’s main trade partner and political supporter also urged Tehran to stop supporting radical organisations opposed to peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours, particularly Palestine and pay more attention to the question of human rights.

"During our talks, we made clear that the agreements should be based upon mutual agreement and without any preconditions and that was accepted by the E.U. side", IRNA quoted Mr. Ahani, who led the Iranian side at the Tuesdays meeting with the E.U. Troika in Teheran.

“After the Teheran talks Tuesday, the E.U. called on Iran to acknowledge the state of Israel, use its influence among anti-Israeli militia groups not to hinder the Middle East peace process and join the international fight against terrorism "without reservation", IRNA said.

The EU’s “invitation” on Tehran to accept the existence of Israel surprised many observers, as not only the Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognise the Jewish State that it describes as a “cancer tumour in the heart of Arab and Muslim world”, but it calls for its “eradication” from the map of the region.

The E.U. delegation, headed by Danish Deputy Foreign Minister Arne Petersen, further demanded from Iran to fully implement relevant international instruments on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destructions.
Another demand by the E.U was promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a relevant E.U.-Iran dialogue "without any preconditions".

In the past two years, the Iranian authorities have shut 87 publications, jailed a dozen of influential journalists and outspoken lawyers and summoned to courts several Majles deputies.

The Islamic Republic rejects the allegations of not respecting universal human rights values on the basis that being an Islamic and religious state, it has its own principle of human rights based on Islamic laws.
Iran also denies that is supports terrorist organisations like the Lebanese Hezbollah or Palestinian Islamic Jihad and HAMAS, observing that fighting for the liberation of their land from “Zionist occupiers and usurpers”, these groups cannot be described as “terrorists”.

The EU's toughest statement so far issued on Iran also made clear that the trade and cooperation agreement and the political dialogue and cooperation on counter-terrorism are an "integrated package".

Iranian political analysts however said that though Tehran has rejected EU’s “political conditions”, but the two sides have, in their last round of talks made some positive steps, including on issues like the question of Iraq as well as on other aspects of the TCA.

“In its relations with the United States, Iran badly needs the EU as a counter-weight to Washington and therefore, it has no other choice than to bow to most of EU’s conditions”, Dr. Sadeq Ziba Kalam, a professor of international politics at the Tehran University observed. ENDS EU IRAN AGREEMENT 12902