MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's supreme leader said on Tuesday the U.S. approach to Iran was at odds with the slogan of bringing "change" to its policy, casting doubt on a UN-sponsored nuclear fuel deal.
"Iran will not be fooled by the superficial conciliatory tone of the United States," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech to students, Press TV reported.
His remarks, made on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the seizure of U.S. Embassy in Tehran by Islamist students, suggest that the IAEA proposal that Iran send most of its known uranium stockpile to Russia to be enriched could be derailed.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran decided from the very beginning not to prejudge and to instead consider the slogan of 'change.' But what we have witnessed in practice during this period of time has been in conflict with the remarks that have been made," he said, adding that the United States was pursuing selfish goals in talks with Iran.
"On the one hand, Americans talk of negotiations. On the other hand, they continue to threaten and say the negotiations must produce the results they want or we will take [punitive] measures."
The International Atomic Energy Agency, at an October 21 meeting in Vienna with Iran, France, Russia and the United States, developed a package of proposals on nuclear fuel supplies for a scientific research reactor in Tehran.
The IAEA initiatives envision that low-enriched uranium from a nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz will undergo further enrichment in Russia before being transferred to France to be turned into fuel assemblies. The proposal was approved by Russia, France and the United States.
Khamenei stressed that the Islamic nation would not bow to any pressure.
"If anyone intends to violate the rights of the Iranian nation, the nation will firmly stand up to them and will make them kneel down."
Iran said on Monday it wanted more talks on the deal, including fuel delivery guarantees, and also stated it would like to buy directly enriched material.
A senior Iranian lawmaker on Saturday criticized the requirement that Iran send its nuclear fuel abroad for processing due to a lack of guarantees over its return.
Iran has rejected Western suspicions that it secretly plans to build nuclear weapons and insisted on its right to nuclear technology for electricity generation.
Russia has consistently supported Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy, and has almost completed the country's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr.
