Iran: No fears of UN Security Council action
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-27 11:36

Iran hopes talks with Europe on easing tensions over Tehran's nuclear ambitions are not dead, but does not fear the threat of U.N. Security Council action if it continues activities linked to uranium enrichment, the country's top negotiator said Friday, reported the Associated Press.

"With the power it enjoys in the region, there is no way that Iran can be worried about the threat of the Security Council," the envoy, Ali Larijani, said of the possibility of referral at an upcoming board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Any referral to the Security Council carries the threat of sanctions.

Larijani also said South Africa was one of "several" countries that has responded positively to his call to expand talks on his country's nuclear program beyond the three European nations most recently negotiating with Tehran. "South Africa was actively interested," Larijani told reporters, without elaborating.

The envoy, who is considered a hardline backer of his country's right to the full nuclear cycle, said he hoped his country would present new ideas within a month aimed at reducing suspicions about Tehran's agenda.

Larijani, who on Thursday called on other nations besides France, Germany and Britain to open talks with his country on its nuclear program, said he hoped the negotiations with the "European Three" would continue nonetheless.

"We never close the door on negotiations," he said. "I have not come to the conclusion that the European capacity ... has already been exhausted" in finding a solution that permits Iran to exercise its right to enrich uranium while dispelling suspicions about what it plans to do with the material produced, he added.

Tehran says its program is only aimed at producing electricity and insists it has the right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to build a uranium development program.

Uranium is enriched by turning the raw ore into gas, which is then spun in centrifuges. Enriched to a low level, it can be used as fuel for a reactor; at a high level, it can be used for a bomb.

On Thursday, Larijani called for more countries to join the three European nations in talks about its nuclear program, apparently hoping to bring in more sympathetic negotiators. The surprise call was part of Tehran's drive to win approval for what it says will be peaceful use of nuclear power.

The talks suffered a blow earlier this month when Iran rejected the Europeans' central proposal _ an offer of economic incentives in return for permanently giving up uranium development. Tehran also resumed uranium conversion at its plant in the central city of Isfahan.

Bringing other nations into the negotiations would likely weaken what has been an unusually unified front by Europe and the United States, pressuring Iran to accept limits to its nuclear program.

Larijani spoke after meeting with IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei for discussions focusing on his country's decision to resume uranium conversion despite international pressure not to do so.

Diplomats say a report being prepared by ElBaradei for the September 19 meeting of the IAEA's board of governors, will disclose new details on Tehran's experiments with small amounts of plutonium, a key component of nuclear weapons.

Larijani acknowledged that "there are a number of areas where the agency (still) had questions" relating to its three-year investigation of Iran's nuclear program prompted by the discovery of nearly two decades of illicit activities _ including some with possible weapons applications.

The United States, which accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons, dismissed Iran's suggestion for more countries to join the talks as a "typical tactic of the Iranian government designed to change the subject."

Europe also responded coolly to Larijani's call.

Britain's Foreign Office said there was "no basis for negotiation with Iran until they respond" to an IAEA resolution adopted earlier this month that calls on Iran to suspend reprocessing activities at the Isfahan plant. The EU countries called off a negotiating session scheduled for August 31 because of the resumption of work there.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said France, Britain and Germany were not really alone in the talks with Tehran since they were acting on behalf of the 25-nation European Union.

Iran's new ultraconservative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said this week his government would draw up new proposals for negotiations. Iranian officials have made clear they expect the talks to focus on allowing Tehran to proceed with its program while setting up guarantees to ensure it is not developing weapons.

In Vienna, Larijani said he expected Ahmadinejad's initiative to be ready within a month.

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