West 'humiliating' Iran, says Hans Blix (Associated Press)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

Former UN weapons inspector slams US and Europe over 'humiliating neo-colonial' attitude to Iran. 'People have their own pride whether you like them or don't,' he adds, urging use of economic incentives for better diplomacy.

Feb. 26, 2007 (AP) -- Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said Monday the United States, Europe and the UN Security Council are ''humiliating'' Iran by demanding that it suspend uranium enrichment before any negotiations and then dictating its rewards.

He said the package of economic and political incentives put forward in June 2006 by the US and key European countries, which was later endorsed by the council, did not mention the key issue of security guarantees for Iran or adequately address the possibility of US diplomatic recognition if Tehran renounces enrichment.

''The first incentive, I think, is to sit down with them in a direct talk rather than saying to them 'you do this, thereafter we will sit down at a table and tell you what you get for it,''' Blix said. ''That's getting away from a humiliating neo-colonial attitude to a more normal (one).''

''People have their own pride whether you like them or don't,'' he told a media briefing ahead of a daylong conference on ''Weapons Threats and International Security'' organized by The Century Foundation, a Washington-based research institute on domestic and international challenges.

By contrast, Blix said the six-party negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program in Beijing have focused on negotiations and recently addressed the country's security concerns and issues of the country's status and diplomatic relations with the United States - ''regrettably far too late.