Iran plans to resume nuclear research (AP) Updated: 2006-01-04 09:12
Iran told the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency Tuesday it planned to resume
nuclear fuel research after a 2 1/2-year hiatus, issuing a fresh challenge to
Western nations concerned that Tehran was trying to build an atomic weapon.
International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed Elbaradei said it was
important that Tehran "maintains its suspension of all enrichment-related
activity" as a way of reducing international suspicions about its nuclear plans.
Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said
research would "resume in cooperation and coordination with the IAEA in the next
few days," adding that it would "have little to do with the production of
nuclear fuel."
Beyond that, he would not specify what type of research Tehran planned but
claimed its nuclear program had suffered significantly during the research
suspension. He said Iran could no longer keep its research scientists in limbo.
Iran has said it remains determined, at some point, to resume uranium
enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear weapons.
The Tuesday announcement, while vague, was certain to raise further concerns
in the United States and among its European allies who believe Iran wants to
build a nuclear arsenal. Tehran says its nuclear program is for electricity
generation.
Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
delivers his speech during a joint meeting of lawmakers and the government
members, at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006.
[AP] | ElBaradei also called on Iran to "build
confidence and enable the resumption of dialogue with all concerned parties."
The Iranian mission to the IAEA said Tehran has decided to resume from Feb. 9
research and development "on the peaceful nuclear energy program which has been
suspended," ElBaradei told the agency's board.
A European diplomat accredited to the agency said it was too early to
evaluate the significance of the move and whether it would scuttle talks planned
for later this month.
The EU has previously said that any decision by Iran to resume work on its
uranium enrichment program would be "the red line" that would end European
attempts to negotiate differences with Iran.
Furthermore, the EU has said a resumption of work on the program would revive
attempts to take Iran to the U.N. Security Council for violating the nuclear
nonproliferation treaty.
But the diplomat, who demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to
publicly discuss European Union strategy, said the Europeans needed details of
precisely what Iran planned to research before making a decision on future
talks.
Iran has come under heavy international pressure from the IAEA and the West
to abandon its program to produce fuel for its Russian-built nuclear reactor
that is due to come online this year and for its future nuclear power plants.
Two Iranians work at the zirconium production
plant, part of the nuclear facilities in Isfahan, 295 km from
Tehran.[AFP/file] | Iran has vowed it will never give up the right to produce nuclear fuel, which
it says is guaranteed by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
While refusing to permanently renounce uranium enrichment, Iran suspended
many aspects of its nuclear fuel program in 2003 as a goodwill gesture during
negotiations with the big three European powers, Britain, France and Germany.
The talks collapsed in August after Iran resumed uranium reprocessing
activities, a step before enrichment, at its Uranium Conversion Facility in
Isfahan, central Iran.
While the two sides resumed dialogue last month, talks have so far failed to
resolve the dispute. More talks are scheduled for later this month.
Iran's decision to resume nuclear research coincided with the announcement by
Asefi that Iran would reject a U.S. and European-backed Russian proposal to end
the dispute if it required Tehran to cede the right to enrich uranium at home.
"The Russian proposal is ambiguous. We have to talk to the Russians to see
what are the details," Asefi told reporters.
"If it means enrichment be carried out (only) in Russia, we have said it is
not acceptable. But if it is a complementary plan, we will study it," Asefi
said.
Extremists within the increasingly hard-line Iranian government have
denounced the Russian proposal as a "dirty trick."
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