Iran restarts uranium processing before UN completes surveillance tests
Iran-European Union, Politics, 8/9/2005

Iran re-started activities at a uranium conversion plant today following the installation of surveillance cameras by the United Nations atomic watchdog but "regrettably" prior to completion of their testing, the agency entrusted with curbing the spread of nuclear weapons reported.

Iran has officially informed the three European countries (Britain, France and Germany) that their proposal on the country's nuclear program was unacceptable to Tehran, said an Iranian official yesterday, IRNA reported.

IRNA said: Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said Monday that Director-General of the Political and International Affairs Department at Foreign Ministry had officially informed ambassadors of European Union heavy weights -- Britain, France and Germany -- in Tehran Monday evening that the EU3's proposal was not acceptable to Tehran.

Asefi said denial of Iran's right to uranium enrichment and possession of fuel cycle as well as production of fuel are among the most important reasons for Iran's rejection of the proposal.

He said the European proposal had fallen short of making any reference to the objective and solid guarantees and this indicates contradiction between the proposal and the Paris Agreement.

Asefi said that the letter given to the Europeans stressed that Europe's proposal sought to set "discriminatory and baseless" standards.

In reaction to the resumption of Iran's nuclear activities, the US said that it would work with the EU3 for a response.

The UN watchdog should unseal Isfahan uranium conversion facility (UCF) by Monday, had said MP Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday. Unsealing UCF of Isfahan must be done with or without the presence of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Head of Foreign Policy Committee of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Manouchehr Mottaki said. "After unsealing of Isfahan's UCF, we should announce our readiness to negotiate with European partners to unseal Natanz facility and restart fuel cycle work," he told reporters on the sidelines of Majlis opening session. The European Union (EU) and some parts of the IAEA have plotted against Iran and the Iranian nuclear team in a bid to halt Iran's decision to restart work at Isfahan's UCF, he said.

Iran re-started activities at a uranium conversion plant Monday following the installation of surveillance cameras by the United Nations atomic watchdog but "regrettably" prior to completion of their testing, the agency entrusted with curbing the spread of nuclear weapons reported.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has spoken to the newly-elected President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the country's nuclear program and the negotiations with the EU-3 (France, Germany and the United Kingdom), said UN Information Center in Tehran (UNIC) quoting a statement issued by a UN spokesman in New York.

He urged restraint and encouraged the continuation of the ongoing process. He hopes both sides will remain engaged in search of an acceptable solution," said the statement.
Iran voluntarily suspended operations last year of all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities during negotiations with European countries on its nuclear program, which it insists is for peaceful energy production but some countries, including the United States, say is part of an effort to produce nuclear weapons.
Last week it announced that it was resuming activities at the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) in Isfahan.
Enriched uranium can be used for peaceful purposes such as generating energy or for making nuclear weapons.
yesterday, UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei informed members of the Vienna-based agency's Board of Governors that Iran started to feed uranium ore concentrate (UOC) into the first part of the process line at the UCF.

"This activity was commenced following the installation yesterday by the IAEA of cameras covering the input stage of the UOC process line, but regrettably prior to completion of the in situ testing of the cameras, which normally takes 24 hours following installation," IAEA said in a statement.

The IAEA Board is meeting in Vienna tomorrow at the request of the EU-3, which have been seeking a diplomatic solution to the issue. Last week the three said any resumption would breach agreements Iran had reached with them as well as the IAEA Board's resolution last November calling for a continued moratorium, and would end their negotiations.

Previous Stories:
  Iran rejects European group on nuclear activities proposal   (8/6/2005)
  EU group insists on keeping Iran dependent and vulnerable to foreign interests for critical civil nuclear needs   (8/5/2005)
  Supreme Leader: Iran will not give in to bullies on nuclear issue   (8/3/2005)

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