-
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation - Source: Reuters -
Related
Iran will not discuss any issues related to its nuclear rights
at Thursday's meeting in Geneva with six world powers, its nuclear
energy agency chief said.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, made
clear this included a newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant
which has drawn Western condemnation.
His comments seemed certain to disappoint the United States which
has called on Iran to come clean about its nuclear programme, which
the West suspects is aimed at making bombs. Tehran insists it needs
the technology to generate power.
"We are not going to discuss anything related to our nuclear
rights, but we can discuss about disarmament, we can discuss about
non-proliferation and other general issues," Salehi told a news
conference.
"The new site is part of our rights and there is no need to discuss
it," he said, adding Tehran would not abandon its nuclear
activities even for a second.
The United States and its Western allies have made clear they will
focus on Iran's nuclear programme at the Geneva meeting.
Iran has offered wide-ranging security talks.
EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana, said he hoped the talks help
build "sufficient confidence and trust to get engaged in a process
(that) we would like to lead to a resolution to this situation in a
political and diplomatic manner."
Salehi was earlier quoted as saying that Iran would soon inform the
UN nuclear watchdog of a timetable for inspection of the new plant,
its second uranium enrichment facility.
Last week's news of the facility, under construction south of
Tehran, added urgency to this week's rare meeting in
Switzerland.
Iran's missile tests on Sunday and Monday have further fuelled
tension with Western powers.
Heart of the mountain
A White House spokesman on Monday urged immediate unfettered access
to the new site.
Iran has rejected Western condemnation of the new facility, saying
it is legal and open to inspection by the UN International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
"The doors of the site are open for inspections but for doing those
inspections of the IAEA there are some protocols and in the
framework of those protocols we will act," Salehi said.
"And when the time comes the inspections will take place ... it is
not very far away," he added.
Salehi said the new enrichment plant was located in the heart of a
mountain, in an area which the elite Revolutionary Guards had
wanted to use as an ammunition depot.
"The site, we can call it a small Natanz site, is a way to show
that Iran ... not even for a second will stop its nuclear
activities," Salehi said, referring to its existing underground
plant near the central city of Natanz.
He described the new facility as a contingency plant in case the
Natanz site was threatened by military action.
"Compared to the Natanz facility, this place is relatively small,
it is not an industrial site like Natanz," Salehi said.
The United States and European powers have called for greater force
behind demands that Iran be transparent over its nuclear programme,
threatening Iran with "sanctions that bite".
When asked whether Iran was ready to suspend enrichment in exchange
for a suspension of international sanctions, Salehi said: "We will
never bargain over our sovereign rights ... if we have the right to
enrichment ... we will not freeze the enrichment."
Iran has so far been hit by three rounds of UN sanctions for
defying its demand to suspend its sensitive enrichment
activities.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
