Iran Nuclear NewsIran Vows Not to Give Up Centrifuge Demand

Iran Vows Not to Give Up Centrifuge Demand

-

AP: Iran toughened its position over its nuclear program Sunday, vowing to maintain its demand to exempt 20 centrifuges it says it wants for research despite international efforts to save a deal committing Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment and all related activities. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also said Tehran was not worried about being referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. Associated Press

ALI AKBAR DAREINI

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran toughened its position over its nuclear program Sunday, vowing to maintain its demand to exempt 20 centrifuges it says it wants for research despite international efforts to save a deal committing Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment and all related activities.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also said Tehran was not worried about being referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

“The issue of research and development is separate from discussions about suspension,” Asefi told reporters Sunday. “We always had research and development in the past and we will continue that in the future. We will use the 20 centrifuges for research.”

Iran insists using the 20 centrifuges purely for research is not prohibited by a Nov. 7 agreement worked out with Germany, France and Britain on behalf of the European Union to suspend all uranium enrichment and related activities. The European Union disagrees.

The dispute over Iran’s interpretation of the deal stalled an International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting in Vienna, Austria, which was adjourned Friday until Monday.

That was meant to give time for the Iranian government to consider and approve a total freeze of the program – which can produce both low-grade nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material for the core of nuclear warheads – and for delegates to decide on further steps in policing Tehran’s nuclear activities.

Asefi said Iran won’t give up on its position on the centrifuges, even if time was running out for a final agreement.

“We are negotiating with Europeans to specify the way we are going to use the 20 centrifuges. … What is important is the legitimate right of our country, and we won’t give (that) up,” he said.

EU delegates to the Vienna meeting said discussions continued Saturday by phone between British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Hassan Rowhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and his country’s point man on nuclear matters. But they said the Europeans would not budge on insisting on a full freeze that included the centrifuges.

As the board awaited a formal Iranian response, France, Germany and Britain toned down language in a proposed Security Council resolution in an attempt to entice Tehran to sign on to full suspension. The confidential draft, made available to The Associated Press, weakened language on how any freeze would be monitored by the agency. It was said by Western diplomats to be unsatisfactory to the United States.

Still, refusal by Tehran to drop demands to exempt equipment from the enrichment suspension could prompt a much harsher resolution that could include the threat of U.N. Security Council action.

“We are not worried about referral to the U.N. Security Council,” Asefi said. “But we prefer that negotiations be continued within the framework of the IAEA because otherwise the capabilities of the agency and Europe will be in doubt.”

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

The Assembly of Experts Speak to their Participation and Agreement with the 1988 Massacre

London, 30 Aug - In her August 29th statement, President-elect Maryam...

Iran blasts “psychological war” by U.S.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Apr. 09 – Iran’s Foreign...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you