Iran stands by nuke plans
2005-11-25 13:25
Tehran - Iran stands by its "right" to enrich uranium despite international demands for Tehran to accept a compromise on the ultra-sensitive nuclear technology, a senior official was quoted as saying on Friday.
"Like all member countries in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Islamic Republic of Iran has the right to enrich uranium," Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Mohammad Akhundzadeh told Iranian media.
He repeated his country's refusal to give up enrichment on its territory, saying Tehran was "ready to study any proposals including the Russian proposal, but any such proposals must guarantee Iran's right to uranium enrichment".
His comments came after the IAEA, the Vienna-based UN watchdog, put off taking Iran to the security council over its nuclear programme.
The European Union and United States suspect that the Islamic republic, despite its denials, is using an atomic energy drive as a cover for nuclear weapons development.
Iran has already refused an EU offer of trade and other incentives in exchange for it abandoning fuel cycle work, and the focus has now turned to a Russian proposal involving moving the enrichment process to Russian soil.
Enrichment can make both nuclear fuel and the explosive core of a weapon.
In a statement to the IAEA on Thursday, the EU decided to allow "more time for diplomatic talks over the future of Iran's programme" but urged Tehran to "seriously consider" the Russian proposal.