Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preparing to confront the US and United Nations security council over Iran's nuclear activities partly to distract attention from the country's worsening economic problems, sources in Tehran have said.
Iran's hardline government said it would respond by August 22 to a western compromise package designed to defuse the dispute over its nuclear activities. But diplomatic sources said that while expressing readiness to continue negotiations, Mr Ahmadinejad was opposing concessions on the issue, which has become key to maintaining his support following his disputed election victory one year ago.
"People say it's Ahmadinejad who's the problem," a western diplomat said on Friday. "Even the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) favours some kind of deal. But this is Ahmadinejad's flagship issue. People like the way he has stood up to the Americans and he isn't going to throw that away."
Leila, a Tehran resident who, like other interviewees, asked not to be identified, said: "If the US had not made such a big thing of the nuclear issue Ahmadinejad would have been in big trouble by now. He could have been overthrown. He's achieved nothing in the past year. The economy is very bad. Everyone is poor."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/0,,1324846,00.htmlYet another triumph of the Bolton style of 'diplomacy'.
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