Iran to resume nuke research
2006-01-07 22:05
Tehran - Iran will end its more than two-year suspension of nuclear fuel research on Monday or Tuesday by removing the seals in the presence of UN inspectors, a senior Iranian nuclear official said.
"The inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are in Tehran to remove the seals on the research centers on Monday or Tuesday," the spokesperson of Iran's top security body, Hossein Entezami, said on Saturday.
"The seals will be removed from the research centres."
Entezami had announced on Tuesday that Iran was preparing to end its suspension of fuel cycle research, which it began around the same time as its suspension of uranium enrichment in October 2003.
It has since announced its intention to resume uranium ore conversion, a precursor process to enrichment.
The announcement of the research resumption sparked a US warning Thursday that it was ready to seek the referral of Iran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council for enforcement action.
Washington charges that the programme is a cover for weapons development, an accusation Tehran strongly denies.
- SAPA