Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday rejected Japan's call to re-suspend its uranium enrichment activities during his meeting with Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, Kyodo News reported

Mottaki told Aso that Iran is currently engaged in "research activities" and that halting resumption of uranium enrichment operations is "impossible," a Japanese foreign ministry official said.

During the two-hour meeting, the two ministers also touched on an agreement between Iran and Russia reaching in principle on Sunday, which proposed to set up a joint uranium enrichment venture in Russia.

To Aso's call on Iran to take a "positive" attitude towards the proposal, Mottaki said that Iran is still negotiating with Russia and there are three things to be nailed down before Iran could make a decision, i.e. the place or places of enrichment, the project implementation period, and whether Iran can have access to Russia's uranium enrichment.

The Russian plan, backed by Western countries, is seen as a crucial attempt to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program before the March 6 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which reports say could start a process leading to U.N. punishment against Iran.

Iran is the third largest supplier of crude oil for Japan. Tokyo is keen on playing a role in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue.

Mottaki, a former ambassador to Japan, is scheduled to pay a courtesy call to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Tuesday afternoon. Before that, he is set to hold talks with Economy Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai, Kyodo said.

Mottaki arrived here earlier in the day for a three-day visit to Japan.

Source: Xinhua