Iran will resume industrial-scale uranium enrichment if it is
referred to the UN Security Council over its nuclear standoff with
the West, a senior Iranian official was quoted yesterday as
saying.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Iran's chief
nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani urged the EU to reopen talks that
stalled after Teheran broke UN seals on uranium enrichment
equipment.
The West suspects Iran wants the radioactive material to help
make nuclear arms. Teheran says it will be used to generate
electricity.
"If the negotiating route is open, we prefer to reach a
conclusion through talks," Larijani told the newspaper. "But if
this route is closed, we are obliged to follow up our other
scenario. Everything depends on the way we are treated."
Asked if there was a timescale for uranium enrichment on an
industrial scale, he said: "Yes. We have a plan for resumption.
"If we are referred to the Security Council, the government is
obliged ... to lift all voluntary measures."
Washington and the EU want the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for pressure
including possible sanctions.
Three EU powers, Germany, the UK and France, have refused to
hold more talks until Teheran again suspends its uranium enrichment
work.
Last month, Moscow proposed setting up a joint venture with Iran
that would enrich uranium on Russian soil for Iran's planned
nuclear reactors.
Larijani said no decision had been made on the Russian
proposal.
"It is one we can study," he said. "This proposal, however, has
to be completed."
Iran urged to ease tensions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov encouraged Iran yesterday
to adopt a position that would help ease tensions over its nuclear
program.
"We count on discussing with you the so-called nuclear problem,
around which the situation is currently being heightened," Lavrov
said at the start of a meeting with Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister
Mehdi Safari. "We hope that our Iranian friends will choose a
position that helps to ease tension and renew negotiations."
Lavrov stressed the common interests Russia and Iran share.
"We have coinciding interests in supporting and strengthening
regional stability, whether it's the Middle East situation, Iraq,
Afghanistan, and including the problem of narcotics and terrorism,"
Lavrov was quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti News Agency.
Safari in turn said Teheran and Moscow "support dialogue on the
nuclear problem," the ITAR-TASS News Agency reported.
And Russia's Interfax News Agency reported later yesterday that
Larijani will head for Moscow today to discuss the nuclear issue
with Russia's Security Council head Igor Ivanov.
Russia has close ties with Teheran and is building Iran's first
nuclear power reactor, but has been moving closer to the Western
position on Iran and is reluctant to let the issue cause a major
rift in its relations with the US and Europe.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said last week that Russia
had proposed a delay in confronting Iran at the UN Security
Council, suggesting that the council first hold less formal
discussions instead of consideration based on referral by the IAEA,
the UN's nuclear watchdog.
The head of Russia's atomic energy agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, has
said Iran is ready for detailed discussions on a proposal to
conduct Iran's uranium enrichment in Russia. That idea is backed by
the US and Europeans as a way out of the deadlock.
The proposal, under which uranium would be enriched in Russia
for use in Iranian reactors, is aimed at overcoming concerns that
Iran could enrich its own uranium to higher levels for use in
nuclear weapons rather than for power production.
(China Daily January 24, 2006)
