Iran said yesterday it would not suspend uranium enrichment, ruling out the main demand of a nuclear package backed by six world powers that aims to allay Western fears that Teheran is seeking to build atomic bombs. Iran says it will formally respond by tomorrow to proposals made by the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. The six have offered incentives for Iran to suspend enrichment, a process that has both military and civilian uses.Teheran, which insists its nuclear aims are purely civilian, shows no sign of accepting the package. "We are not going to suspend (enrichment). The issue was that everything should come out of negotiations, but suspension of uranium enrichment is not on our agenda," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference. Western diplomats say Iran must halt the atomic work before talks can start. Any response that falls short of that is likely to be considered a rejection of the offer in Western capitals.
Additional: Tehran, 21 August (AKI) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Tehran will pursue its nuclear programme "with force" state television reported Monday. Khamenei was speaking on the eve of the 22 August deadline set by Tehran for its response to a Western incentive package for it to roll back its nuclear programme and a day after extensive tests of Iran's surface to surface missiles in exercises near its borders with Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan. "In the nuclear dossier, with the help of God, of patience and commitment, Iran will continue on its path with force and will gather the fruits" Khamenei was quoted as saying by the broadcast.
The five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany offered to Iran on 6 June a package of economic, technology and diplomatic incentives in exchange for a freeze of uranium enrichment activities they fear are aimed at building nuclear weapons. Though Iran said it would respond by 22 August, the six countries decided mid July that Tehran was not considering the proposal seriously and referred the case back to the Security Council. The council voted its first legally binding resolution threatening Iran with economic sanctions if it fails to comply with the UN's request to halt enrichment by 31 August.