Saturday, April 30, 2005 Posted: 5:49 AM EDT (0949 GMT)
Iran says its nuclear facilities, like this one at Arak, are for peaceful purposes only.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran will likely resume some nuclear activities related to uranium enrichment next week, Iran's top nuclear negotiator was quoted by the state-run news agency as saying Saturday.
Hasan Rowhani said it was unlikely the Islamic Republic will resume actual uranium enrichment -- injecting uranium gas into centrifuges -- but that it expects to restart activities at its uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
"It's unlikely that uranium enrichment ... which takes place in Natanz, will be resumed, but it's likely that some activities at Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility will restart next week," IRNA quoted Rowhani as saying.
Both state-run television and the official news agency reported Rowhani was saying some activities will resume next week, though his remark as quoted by the agency appeared to leave some room for doubt.
Rowhani's comments came the day after the latest negotiations aimed at persuading Iran to scrap its nuclear program ended in London without a breakthrough. France, Britain and Germany, acting on behalf of the 25-nation European Union, are seeking guarantees that Iran will not use its nuclear program to make weapons, as Washington suspects.
The European countries want Tehran to abandon its enrichment activities permanently in exchange for economic aid, technical support and backing for Iran's efforts to join mainstream international organizations. The United States last month agreed to support the EU diplomatic effort, but signaled Iran should quickly accept or face the threat of harsh U.N. Security Council sanctions.
The Iranians have warned that without success in negotiations soon, the talks would collapse and, as Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi warned Thursday, "we will have no choice but to restart the uranium enrichment program." Iran agreed in November to temporarily freeze its enrichment program.
Rowhani called the London talks that ended Friday "perhaps the last opportunity" for an agreement and acknowledged Iran and the Europeans had failed to achieve a compromise.
"The Europeans still insist on having more time to review the details of the plan (presented by Iran)," IRNA quoted him as saying.
A senior British Foreign Office official said Friday that both sides had agreed to reflect on what they had discussed in the latest round and that talks would continue.
The Europeans have called on Iran to abandon enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors and, taken to a higher level, material for bombs. Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely for the peaceful purpose of generating electricity.
The central cities of Natanz and Isfahan house the heart of Iran's nuclear program. The conversion facility in Isfahan reprocesses uranium ore concentrate into gas. The gas is then taken to Natanz and fed into the centrifuges for enrichment.
Link
Wonder what Bush will have to say about this? I think it is a total mistake to allow these folks to have access to nuclear power. They could do much more damage to our country than they could have ever done in 9/11.
Linear Mode
