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US trying to ‘trick’ Iran over nuke deal: Larijani

* Parliamentary speaker says Iranians must not fall prey to US ‘smiles and tactics’
* ElBaradei says uranium-for-oil swap inside Iran ‘not an option’

TEHRAN: Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday that Washington was trying to “trick” Tehran through a high-profile nuclear fuel deal brokered by the UN atomic watchdog.

The conservative who was Tehran’s former chief nuclear negotiator also said Iranians must avoid falling prey to US “smiles” as the Americans carry “hidden daggers”. “If we analyse the role of the United States in the Iranian nuclear issue, it turns out that there was a trick in this proposal. They felt that they can politically cheat” Iran, Larijani told the official IRNA news agency.

The UN-brokered deal envisages Iran sending most of its stock of low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for converting into fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

Iranian officials, including Larijani, have rejected the proposal, but world powers, including Washington, still hope Tehran could agree to the offer.

Be alert: But Larijani warned Tehran must remain alert when negotiating with Washington.

“One should not fall for US smiles and tactics. Americans sometimes talk about peace and sometimes they smile at the Islamic republic’s officials ... but they have hidden daggers behind themselves.”

“If the country’s officials are smart, mature, and love the nation’s interests, they will not fall for US smiles. It is a big mistake if we think they will change their behaviour just because there is a change in administration,” the Iranian politician said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) begins a two-day meeting in Vienna today (Thursday), the last to be chaired by Egyptian diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei, who steps down on November 30 after 12 years at the helm of the IAEA.Diplomats at the agency have said that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany have drawn up a draft resolution to put to the two-day meeting.

It is not yet clear from pre-meeting talks whether the text will actually win the support of the majority of board members, so the so-called P5+1 may finally decide to issue it merely as a statement rather than put it to the vote, one diplomat said.

Fuel swap: ElBaradei told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday that a nuclear fuel swap inside Iran, as proposed by the Islamic Republic, is “not an option”.

“I don’t think that is an option. The whole purpose of the deal is to defuse the crisis,” ElBaradei told reporters here, referring to a deal he had brokered on the supply of nuclear fuel to a research reactor in Tehran. afp

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