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Iran's chief nuclear negotiator (L) attends a meeting on nuclear power on Iran in Geneva - Source: Reuters -
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Iran's foreign minister said that Tehran will never abandon its
legal and obvious right to nuclear technology and will not curb
uranium enrichment, despite talks which the West hopes will lead to
restraints on the programme.
The negotiations in Vienna offer the first chance to build on
tentative deals made in Geneva on October 1 to defuse a standoff
over suspicions that Iran's uranium enrichment campaign is covertly
intended to develop nuclear weapons.
"The meetings with world powers and their behaviour shows that
Iran's right to have peaceful nuclear technology has been accepted
by them. Iran will never abandon its legal and obvious right,"
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.
Western diplomats said the talks aimed to flesh out details of an
Iranian agreement in principle in Geneva to send low-enriched
uranium to Russia and France for further refinement.
This would be converted into fuel rods to replenish dwindling
fuel stocks of a Tehran reactor that makes radio-isotopes for
cancer care.
The meeting between Iran and Russia, France and the United States,
hosted by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, began on
Monday but stalled on Tuesday after Tehran suddenly refused to deal
directly with France.
Mottaki and other officials in Tehran said France could not be part
of the uranium supply plan, accusing it of reneging on contracts to
deliver nuclear materials in the past.
A senior diplomat familiar with the talks said the parties were
considering a face-saving compromise drafted by the UN nuclear
watchdog.
Under this Iran would sign a contract with Russia, and Russia
would sub-contract further work to France.
Other tough issues were requiring back-door consultations to settle
before the meeting could resume to seal an agreement.
They included how much low-enriched uranium (LEU) Iran would send
out, and when.
Western powers wanted this to be about 75% of its declared
stockpile, and to be shipped abroad in one consignment before the
end of the year.
French, US and Russian delegations were seen circulating a draft
document during the day.
But a 1430 GMT target for resuming the meeting was not met,
without explanation.
The West hopes that farming out a large amount of Iran's LEU
reserve for reprocessing into fuel for the medical isotope reactor
- using technology Iran lacks - will minimise the risk of Iran
refining the material to high purity suitable for bombs.
Western diplomats say Tehran must ultimately curb the programme to
dispel fears of a growing LEU stockpile being further enriched,
covertly, to produce nuclear weapons.
Enrichment to continue
But Mottaki said Iran would not curtail enrichment as part of the
LEU deal, as demanded by the UN Security Council.
"Iran will continue its uranium enrichment. It is not linked to
buying fuel from abroad," he told a Tehran news conference.
LEU is used as fuel for nuclear reactors, while a nuclear bomb
requires highly enriched uranium.
The West fears Iran's declared civilian nuclear energy programme
is a front for producing fissile material for atomic bombs. Iran
denies this.
Mottaki said Iran did not need France for the fuel plan.
"There are Russia, America ... I believe these countries are
enough. Not too many countries are needed to provide Iran with the
fuel," he said.
"France, based on its shortcomings to fulfil its obligations in
the past, is not a trustworthy party to provide fuel for
Iran."
Iran has been hit by three rounds of UN sanctions for refusing to
halt enrichment-related work.
It said on Monday it would not hesitate to produce higher
enriched uranium on its territory if the talks failed in
Vienna.
Iran won a reprieve from harsher UN sanctions by agreeing on
October 1 to IAEA inspections of a hitherto hidden enrichment site
and to sending LEU abroad to ease concerns that it could achieve
nuclear weapons breakout capacity in short order.
