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Iran Rejects Any Suspension of Uranium Enrichment
Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Iran rules out any suspension of uranium enrichment, said the deputy to the country's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. The Islamic Republic refuses to ``step back'' and ``will not accept any suspension'' of its uranium enrichment work, Larijani's deputy, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, was quoted as saying today by the state-run Fars news agency. ``A suspension of a week or two, or even one month, will not solve any problem.'' ``The Iranian population has chosen its path and will not step back one bit from its rights,'' Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying today by the official Iranian Students News Agency. Ahmadinejad, pronounced ah-ma-deen-ah- ZHAD, was refering to the country's nuclear program during a speech in the city of Nazarabad, in the Tehran province. The U.S. and some allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear power program to disguise weapons development. Iran, which is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, says its nuclear work is for civilian purposes only. A suspension of enrichment is the U.S. and European Union's main demand to break the deadlock over the program. Iran ignored an Aug. 31 deadline set by the United Nations Security Council to freeze enrichment or face the possibility of sanctions. Six world powers are preparing to draft penalties against Iran should the country fail to suspend enrichment in the coming days, a senior British diplomat said yesterday. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the designated envoy to Iran on the nuclear issue, told EU countries and the U.S. this weekend that Larijani has made it clear Iran won't comply, the diplomat told reporters in London, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The five members of the UN Security Council -- the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia and China -- plus Germany, a grouping known as the P5 plus one, are intensifying preparatory efforts for what should be in a resolution while pursuing negotiations, the diplomat said. ``This dialogue I am maintaining cannot last forever,'' Solana told a European Parliament committee in Brussels today. Talks will not be able to move to negotiations because Iran refuses to halt enrichment, Solana said, though he added that the dispute should be resolved ``through negotiation.''
Posted by: Steve 2006-10-04 |
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