Iran to suspend uranium enrichment

"Iran said it will start suspending uranium enrichment as of Monday, making good on its word which it gave at a recent agreement with the Europeans," IRNA reported today.

The report said: Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, however, stressed that it was Tehran's prerogative to specify "the extent and duration of the suspension." "This suspension depends on the commitment of the opposite party and we will test this at the next board of governors' meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he told reporters at his weekly news briefing.

The report added :"We have voluntarily accepted suspension, since we have no legal obligation in this regard, having done this to bolster general confidence at the regional and international level," he added. In a confidence-building measure, Iran agreed in its meeting with the three EU states in Paris last week to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment in order to avoid a probable showdown.

The report added: The European trio have reached a "preliminary" deal with Iran, under which Tehran would halt an enrichment program in exchange for political and economic incentives... Tehran has expressly stated that it cannot be induced to scrapping the process for good.