Iran sets Sunday as deadline for EU nuclear proposal

Iran has set Sunday as the deadline for the European Union (EU) to present its proposal on the Iranian nuclear issue, threatening to resume the preliminary stage of uranium enrichment otherwise, officials said on Sunday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told a weekly news briefing that the uranium conversion facility in the central city of Isfahan would be resumed if the EU failed to present the proposal before Monday.

"The deadline is on tomorrow and Iran will not accept the Europeans' procrastination," Asefi said.

The spokesman said Iran had prepared a letter to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency of the resumption, which is to be submitted on Monday if the EU proposal fails to emerge before the deadline.

"We will start work in Isfahan and will not wait any longer. We have tried our best to reach an agreement with the EU, but it seems that they can not be committed to their promises," Asefi said.

The conversion is to turn uranium ore, nicknamed yellowcake, to uranium hexafluoride gas which can be used for further enrichment.

Enriched uranium can be used to generate electricity or build nuclear weapons.

However, Asefi stressed that Iran was still willing to continue negotiations with the EU while keeping the suspension of enrichment itself.

He sniffed at the possibility that Iran's nuclear issue could be referred to the UN Security Council if Tehran resumed enrichment-related activities, saying the EU would lose more in that case.

Meanwhile, Ali Aghamohammadi, chairman of the Information Committee of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), specified that the deadline was 5:00 p.m. local time (12:30 GMT) on Sunday.

Aghamohammadi told local media that Iran would carry out the resumption on Monday if the EU did not present its proposal by the stated time.

In a Saturday interview with the English-language Tehran Times which was published on Sunday, Aghamohammadi said the EU must present its offer before Monday or it would face Iran's partial resumption of uranium enrichment activities.

Aghamohammadi also said ambassadors of the European trio of Germany, France and Britain had asked for a delay until Aug. 7 in the presentation of the proposal.

"According to the schedule, the European offer has to be presented by Aug. 1, and on the other hand, based on information received, the offer doesn't include the least demands of the Islamic Republic," he said.

The EU trio is busy formulating a comprehensive proposal on the solution of the Iranian nuclear issue, including a package of economic and political incentives, promised by the bloc in late May in the latest round of nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Iran has urged the EU to secure its right to continue uranium enrichment in the proposal, which Aghamohammadi termed as the " least demands."

The EU has been trying but in vain to talk Iran out of its enrichment program, a key procedure on the way to building nuclear reactor.

Iran suspended all activities related to uranium enrichment in November 2004 according to an agreement reached with the EU trio but refused to turn the temporary suspension into a permanent halt.

It was reported that in a letter to EU officials, Iran said that if the nuclear proposal did not include uranium enrichment, Tehran would reject it.

Similarly, Aghamohammadi said if Iran's expectations were not met, it would resume some of sensitive enrichment activities.

"The EU trio still has time to revise the proposal to Iran's liking. If they do not do so, Iran will consider doing whatever it deems necessary to protect its national interest," Aghamohammadi stressed.

On Wednesday, outgoing President Mohammad Khatami warned that Tehran was determined to resume the preliminary process of uranium enrichment whatever would emerge in the European proposal.

"No matter what kind of proposal the EU presents in the coming days, we will resume the activities in the Isfahan facility," Khatami said.

The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

Source: Xinhua