Iran Vows Not to Abandon Nuclear Progress

02/10/2005

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mohammad Khatami vowed that no Iranian government would ever abandon the progress that the country has made in developing peaceful nuclear technology.

The comment did not augur well for negotiations with the big three European powers who are currently trying to persuade Iran to cease permanently the enrichment of uranium.

Khatami warned that if the talks with Britain, France and Germany fail, his government will not be bound by its undertaking to suspend enrichment.

“If other parties (to the negotiations) are not committed to their promises, we will not be committed to our promises at all,” Khatami told a meeting of foreign diplomats in Tehran on Wednesday. The Europeans have promised Iran economic and technological aid in return for cooperation on the nuclear issue.

Uranium enriched to low levels can be used for fuel for nuclear power stations. Enriched to high levels it is used for atomic bombs. Iran says it seeks enriched uranium only for power stations, but the United States believes it wants to build nuclear weapons.

“Neither my government, nor any other (Iranian) government can give a convincing reply to people (who seek our) giving up peaceful nuclear technology,” said Khatami, whose second and final presidential term ends later this year.

“Iran has achieved nuclear technology without the help of others, and it will never give up its right (to use it) under illegitimate pressure from others,” Khatami said.

Khatami drew attention to opinion polls that show most Iranians want the country to continue with its nuclear development.

The nuclear program is perhaps the only issue that all sides of the political spectrum agree on in Iran. The program is a point of national pride.

Khatami reiterated that Iran would never make nuclear weapons. He said the country was a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and had reaffirmed its commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear power in November.

The United States says it supports the European negotiations with Iran, but U.S. officials say privately they expect them to fail. The United States has long wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions on the country.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Fox News Paris that if the Iranians “are unwilling to take the deal, really, that the Europeans are giving ... then the Security Council referral looms.”

President Bush has refused to rule out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.