Iran downplays nuclear warnings
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran brushed off warnings that it could face the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, saying Sunday it would not be moved by threats.
Germany and France have urged Iran to reconsider its weekend rejection of European proposals for resolving the standoff over its nuclear program, warning Tehran that the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to refer the matter to the Security Council, which may impose sanctions.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog meets Tuesday to consider Iran’s nuclear activities – a meeting Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said had no legal basis.
“Iran is not much familiar with the language of threat, and it is not effective,” Asefi told reporters at a weekly briefing. “What interests us is cooperation. We advise Europe to withdraw its threats.”
Asefi said Iran will announce today when it intends to restart the conversion of raw uranium into gas at its Isfahan nuclear plant. The IAEA has warned Iran not to restart conversion until the watchdog has installed surveillance equipment.
Asefi said an IAEA inspector was expected to arrive in Iran today and would go to the Isfahan plant. Cameras and surveillance equipment would be installed and conversion would resume soon, he said.
The gas produced by conversion is used to enrich uranium. Uranium enriched to low levels is used in nuclear power reactors, but further enrichment makes it suitable for nuclear bombs.
Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes and has denied U.S. allegations that it has a covert plan to build atomic bombs. But the discovery that Iran had kept aspects of the program secret for many years raised concerns in Washington, Israel and Europe.
Britain, France and Germany – negotiating on behalf of the European Union and with U.S. support – offered Iran a package of aid measures on Friday in return for a commitment that it would not to build nuclear weapons.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the EU’s proposed settlement of Tehran’s nuclear standoff with the West included an offer to make Iran a major oil supply route between Central Asia and Europe.
“We are making proposals to Iran on energy, such as becoming major actors in the transport of oil between Central Asia and Europe via Iran,” he told the Journal du Dimanche, elaborating on a summary of the EU’s proposal to Iran, which was released Friday.
Asefi announced Saturday that the European proposal had been rejected, saying the primary reason was that it did not allow Iran to enrich uranium.
Iran says it needs enrichment to have an independent supply of fuel for the nuclear reactor that it has built with Russian help. The European package included fuel for a reactor, long-term support for reactors, and economic, political and security cooperation.
Asefi reiterated Iran’s criticisms of the package Sunday, adding that it failed to give guarantees for political, security and economic cooperation.