Iran's Ahmadinejad compares West to a 'mosquito'
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Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has compared Iran's enemies to a "mosquito" as his regime continues to stall in negotiations with the West over Iran's nuclear program.
Mr. Ahmadinejad made the comment Sunday, a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Iran that "we're not going to wait forever" for Iran to accept the UN-backed nuclear deal, reports the Associated Press.
Under the International Atomic Energy Agency deal hammered out by negotiators from France, the US, and Russia, Iran would send 1.2 tons of low-enriched uranium to Russia in one shipment before January, where it would be converted to fuel for a Iranian research reactor. The Associated Press reports that amount is about 70 percent of Iran's stockpile.
Iran on Thursday essentially refused the deal, saying it would not send the entire batch of fuel in one shipment, but preferred several smaller shipments. That is unacceptable to Western officials, who fear Iran could further enrich the nuclear material for use in weapons.
On Friday, the Iranian state news agency IRNA said that position was not a response to the proposal and Iran still wants more talks, but Mrs. Clinton warned Iran Saturday that "patience does finally have its limits" and called on the regime to accept the deal.
Russia's envoy to Tehran, Alexander Sadovnikov, also chimed in on Sunday, urging Iran to sign the fuel deal, reports Agence France-Presse.
While Ahmadinejad takes a tough line with the international community, he also faces new challenges at home. The British daily The Guardian reports that Iranian students are planning a massive protest Wednesday against the president's regime on the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the US embassy in Iran by students.
The demonstration is a continuation of the protests that swept through Iran after a disputed election in June, in which Ahmadinejad claimed victory over accusations of massive fraud. The Guardian reports that universities have become hubs of underground dissent since June. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared to support the planned protest, reports the newspaper, and said that the significance of planning it on the anniversary of student takeover of the US embassy is to remind Iran that "it is the people who are the leaders."
