Khaddam and former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani met to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Rafsanjani criticized the United States’ leadership for making strategic mistakes and disregarding the rights of the Iraqi, Afghan, Palestinian, and Lebanese people. He believed that the United States will face difficulties in the region for years to come.
Following the meeting, Khaddam called for a conference of Iraqi political forces and parties to be held with the support of Tehran and Damascus. Khaddam believed that such a conference could help unite the Iraqi people, remove occupiers from their territory, and give the United Nations a supervisory role.
On the other hand, Iran rejected the European Union’s statement calling for compliance with international demands in the nuclear field. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed dissatisfaction with the EU’s position, considering it “inappropriate, political and unacceptable.” Asifi, the Iranian Student News Agency’s quoted, expects Europe to “act independently without taking into account the created atmosphere.”
European foreign ministers issued a joint statement calling on Tehran to comply with the IAEA resolution to suspend all uranium enrichment activities and provide guarantees that it will not develop atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program. The deadline for this compliance was set for October 31.
