(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-13 09:08

Washington is pushing for a third set of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment work, as demanded by the United Nations. Iran says it wants to master enrichment technology so it can make fuel to generate electricity.

Khamenei was defiant in his meeting with ElBaradei, who is seeking to defuse a standoff that has helped send oil prices to record levels and sparked fears of a military confrontation.

"America's problem with Iran is beyond the nuclear issue," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.

"Americans are mistaken by thinking that by pressuring Iran over the nuclear issue they can break Iran. By bringing this and other issues to the fore, they cannot bring the Iranian nation to its knees," he said.

The IAEA has sought to verify that Iran's uranium enrichment program is geared solely to producing civilian energy.

Khamenei said that "building or using nuclear weapons is against" Islamic sharia law.

A diplomat close to the IAEA said before ElBaradei's visit that an agency inquiry stonewalled by Iran for years until August had entered a final phase with Iran addressing US intelligence about past attempts to "weaponize" atomic material.

Iran said in August it would answer outstanding questions about its nuclear past but an end-of-year target for completing the process passed with the sensitive issues still unresolved.

   1 2   

   1 2