Iran says decision on nuclear fuel research not negotiable

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said here on Wednesday that the country's latest decision to resume the work on nuclear fuel research was not negotiable, state television reported.

"We have stated that the research work is not included in the negotiations, and research is different from and has nothing to do with the actual industrial production," Larijani was quoted as saying.

Mohammad Saidi, deputy chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA), said on Tuesday that Iran had decided to resume the research work on nuclear fuel in a few days after a suspension of over two and a half years.

Saidi also stressed that the activities to be resumed were just related to research and had nothing to do with the actual production, noting that the restarted fuel research would be carried out under the supervision and cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic would not retreat from its decision to resume the nuclear fuel work.

Iran's fresh hardline move incurred immediate warnings from the United States, France and the IAEA.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on Tuesday reiterated the agency's position that it was important for Tehran to keep all work related to uranium enrichment suspended in order to disperse suspicions of the international community over its nuclear program.

The agency announced on Wednesday that it has been informed of Iran's decision to resume the fuel research work on Jan. 9, about which ElBaradei has briefed the 35 member states of the IAEA Board of Governors.

Enriched uranium, a key material for nuclear fuel cycle, can be used also to build atomic bombs.

Under the persuasion of the European Union (EU), Iran suspended uranium enrichment in October 2003, signed the Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in December 2003 and froze all peripheral work related to the enrichment in November 2004.

However, Iran resumed uranium conversion activities, a precursor to enrichment, in early August 2004, which stranded the negotiations with the EU for months.

Tehran insists that the right to construct nuclear fuel cycle is a legal right enshrined by the NPT while the EU and the United States hold that Iran's complete command of uranium enrichment could lead to military use of the technology.

The United States accuses Iran of building nuclear weapons secretly, which has been rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

Source: Xinhua