Iran 'ready to talk'

2006-04-04 15:28

Tehran - Iran is prepared to negotiate on the large-scale enrichment of uranium but will never abandon its right to enrich uranium, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a press conference on Tuesday.

The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment of uranium and last week it asked the UN nuclear agency to report back in 30 days on whether Iran had complied with the demand.

Mottaki maintained Iran's line that it would not comply with the Security Council demand, saying the research-scale enrichment that Iran began in February was in exercise of its rights and will continue.

Iran has been conducting small-scale enrichment for what it says is research purposes, but it would require large-scale enrichment to fuel a nuclear reactor. Enrichment makes uranium suitable for reactor use but, taken to a high degree, it becomes suitable for a nuclear bomb.

Negotiations

The United States and France have accused Iran of seeking enrichment as a part of a secret program to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear ambitions are confined to the generation of electricity.

"The enrichment of uranium ... is Iran's right as defined as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Mottaki said.

"One thing we can't give up and that is the right of the Iranian nation ... We can't hold a dialogue with any country about giving up our rights," Mottaki insisted.

He added that Iran was prepared to talk to the international commmunity about large-scale enrichment.

"For industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel, which is the next stage (of enrichment), we are ready for negotiations," Mottaki said.

Iran's first nuclear reactor, built with Russian assistance at Bushehr in southwestern Iran, is due to come on stream later this year.

Mottaki said there were two options for Iran's nuclear programme: co-operation or confrontation.

"Iran prefers the first option," he said.

The big three European powers - Britain, France and Germany - negotiated with Iran for two years endeavouring to persuade it to abandon enrichment. Iran gave up on the negotiations last August and began resuming parts of its nuclear programme that it had suspended as a goodwill gesture.

When Iran resumed enrichment early this year, the Europeans decided to push for Security Council action on the issue.

The nuclear program is a source of national pride in Iran, and even government opponents have expressed support for the programme.

- AP