Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - October 17, 2002

  America did not fully fulfill its commitments, North Korea continued to work secretly to build a nuclear bomb.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs retracted his statement.  He had said that if Israel and the Palestinians agree on two independent states in Palestine, Iran has no objection.  

Full text of the newspaper:

After the [United Nations] Security Council meeting was inconclusive, America has announced that it will present a moderate resolution.  Russia and France have said that they do not accept military action at this stage.  America's clamor against North Korea has risen. Congress is putting pressure on the White House to act to contain North Korea.  Those who opposed [Bill] Clinton's agreement with Korea are more active.  In that agreement in 1994, North Korea agreed to cancel its nuclear program in exchange for US aid;  Including getting a light water nuclear power plant from America instead of its existing heavy water one. America did not fully fulfill its commitments, North Korea also continued to work secretly.  Recently, when the Director General of the US Department of State "[James] Kelly" went to North Korea, the Koreans have said that they have continued with nuclearization, after which the noises started. 

Mr. [Hamidreza] Asefi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retracted his statement the day before.  He had said that if Israel and the Palestinians agree to have two independent countries in Palestine, Iran has no objection, and [Mr. Abdullah Ramzanzadeh], the government spokesman, had also confirmed it.  This comment caused a wide reflection in the world and was interpreted as Iran's concession to America on the eve of the invasion of Iraq.  The Hamas movement opposed it.

India and Pakistan announced that they will withdraw their troops from the border after a new missile test.  The CIA announced that the threat posed by al-Qaeda to the United States has returned to its pre-September 11 status, and Iraq's weapons are not a significant threat to the United States.

The participation of Mr. Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, in the summit of 57 French-speaking countries in Beirut has angered America, England, and Israel, and [Jacques] Chirac, [President of France], said that the Lebanese president, who was the host, has taken action.