Inqhilab
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NEW DELHI: As UN inspectors discover a uranium enrichment project in Iran slightly beyond the stipulated limit for power generation, India prepares to receive the Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, on Thursday. Salehi will be here to formally invite prime minister Manmohan Singh to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Iran.
According to foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, Salehi will hold talks with SM Krishna on Thursday and meet PM on Friday. The invitation to PM is expected, though its not yet clear whether PM will attend. Last week, Iran president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad called Manmohan Singh to register concerns about India's oil import dip as well as to invite Singh personally.
India's presence at the NAM summit will be a huge feather in the cap of the ruling system in Tehran. Equally, it would be read as a slap on the face of Washington which will be watching closely, specially because the summit will come before Barack Obama's re-election, one where Iran's nuclear programme and the oil sanctions will figure. 
Agencies quoted reported Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to IAEA as dismissing the claim of 27 per cent enrichment at Fordow as a ''technical'' issue. ''Addressing technical and trivial issues, which also occur in the nuclear facilities of other nations, show media reports are seeking political goals,'' Soltaneih said.
Iran remains a close friend of India though its nuclear ambitions and its flirtations with the Taliban in Afghanistan are becoming a strain. India has substantially reduced its oil imports from Iran after the US imposed sanctions on its financial system. Iran has slipped to No 3 as supplier of oil to India, having been upstaged by Iraq. Nevertheless, India continues to believe that Iran is an important power in the region.
According to foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, Salehi will hold talks with SM Krishna on Thursday and meet PM on Friday. The invitation to PM is expected, though its not yet clear whether PM will attend. Last week, Iran president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad called Manmohan Singh to register concerns about India's oil import dip as well as to invite Singh personally.
Agencies quoted reported Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to IAEA as dismissing the claim of 27 per cent enrichment at Fordow as a ''technical'' issue. ''Addressing technical and trivial issues, which also occur in the nuclear facilities of other nations, show media reports are seeking political goals,'' Soltaneih said.
Iran remains a close friend of India though its nuclear ambitions and its flirtations with the Taliban in Afghanistan are becoming a strain. India has substantially reduced its oil imports from Iran after the US imposed sanctions on its financial system. Iran has slipped to No 3 as supplier of oil to India, having been upstaged by Iraq. Nevertheless, India continues to believe that Iran is an important power in the region.
