Iran said Tuesday there was no going back on its decision to restart nuclear fuel work.

Two years of hard bargaining between the European Union (EU) and Iran over its nuclear programme looked close to breaking point with the EU coming round to the US view that Teheran should be referred to the United Nations for possible sanctions.

The so-called EU3 of Britain, France and Germany had been due to offer Iran nuclear, political and economic incentives to freeze its nuclear fuel activities indefinitely.

But Iran insists the EU recognize its right to enrich uranium, something the union has so far refused to do.

Iranian officials said they had grown impatient with what they called EU time-wasting and rejected the offer even before it had been made.

"The political decision has been taken... The resumption is irreversible," Supreme National Security Council spokesman Ali Aghamohammadi said. He said that as far as Iran was concerned, the resumption had already begun.

Iranian officials said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors began work at a uranium conversion plant near the central city of Isfahan on Monday in preparation for Iran to begin its nuclear activities there.

"The IAEA will finish the installation of surveillance equipment in the next 24 hours and we will restart the plant's activities in the next one or two days," said Mohammad Saeedi, vice-president of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

Meanwhile, Russia will maintain support for Iran's nuclear programme despite Teheran's decision to restart the enrichment of uranium, Russian news agencies quoted sources in Russia's atomic agency, Rosatom, as saying Tuesday.

China supports diplomatic efforts

China supports continued diplomatic efforts to properly settle the Iran nuclear issue within IAEA framework at an early date, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing Tuesday.

Spokesman Kong Quan said that China supports the negotiation between the EU and Iran on reaching a long-term solution to the nuclear issue.

What has been achieved so far is the hard-won result, and China hopes the two sides will adhere to the Paris Agreement and IAEA Council resolution and remain patient to maintain the negotiation process, the spokesman said.

Source: China Daily