No hidden nuclear agenda: Iran

2005-04-11 16:34

Tehran - Facing persistent international pressure over its nuclear programme, Iran on Monday insisted it had no "hidden agenda" to use its atomic plants to build nuclear weapons.

"That Iran has large scale industrial enrichment facilities by itself says that Iran does not have any hidden agenda to divert towards nuclear weapons," foreign minister Kamal Kharazi told reporters.

Iran has been negotiating since December with Britain, France and Germany to win trade, security and technology rewards in return for giving guarantees that it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.

The United States accuses Iran of using its nuclear energy programme as cover for a plan to develop nuclear arms, a charge vehemently denied by Tehran which says it needs nuclear power as an alternative energy source.

Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moeller, speaking at a joint news conference, said that the two sides still needed to build up mutual trust, despite Kharazi's assurances.

"There is not enough mutual confidence, and we must develop this confidence.

"I made it clear that it is very important that there is no dual use, and that we have no enrichment of material that can be used for nuclear weapons," Moeller added.

Guarantees

He stressed that Tehran has to give "guarantees that there will be no nuclear weapons".

But Kharazi again stressed Iran's "legitimate right" to uranium enrichment, a key sticking point in talks.

Iran agreed in November to suspend enrichment activities as a goodwill gesture for a maximum of six months, but the Europeans want the suspension to become permanent, a demand the Iranians have termed "absurd".

Tehran says it has the right to enrich uranium to low levels to produce atomic fuel for civilian power stations, but highly enriched uranium can provide the core for an atomic bomb.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi said on Sunday Tehran saw improved prospects in the negotiations with European states, but repeated its refusal to renounce uranium enrichment.

"The atmosphere is better...We hope to reach concrete results... on April 19," he said, referring to a meeting of experts from Europe and Iran ahead of a steering committee meeting on April 29 to "to find future solutions".

No secret

Kharazi added that the reason Iran did not declare its nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was because it was not a signatory to the additional protocol of the non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), which calls for immediate report on the progress in nuclear activities.

"Our programme was not a secret from the beginning, however we did not declare it to the IAEA," he said.

However, Moeller stressed the importance of Iran "gaining confidence," in "respecting its international commitments" and "maintaining (uranium) enrichment suspension while negotiating with Europe".

Iranian and European nuclear officials will continue negotiations on April 19.

- AFP