BBC: Iran will not halt uranium enrichment, a key demand of the United Nations, its chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on the eve of talks with the EU. BBC News
Iran will not halt uranium enrichment, a key demand of the United Nations, its chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on the eve of talks with the EU.
“Suspension is not a solution to Iran’s nuclear issue… Iran cannot accept suspension,” he said.
Mr Larijani said Iran was ready for constructive talks but would not accept preconditions and had none of its own.
He will meet Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief leading talks on behalf of world powers, in Madrid.
It will be the second encounter between the two negotiators. The EU described the first meeting in Ankara “positive in form but not fruitful in substance”.
Mr Larijani said Iran “is ready to implement mechanisms to alleviate other countries’ concerns over the nature of its nuclear programme”.
UN resolutions demand that Iran halts enrichment, a process which some countries say is a prelude to building atomic bombs.
Tehran denies the charge, saying its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes.
The UN Security Council has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran for its resistance to UN demands, and some western powers are pushing for greater penalties.
Iran says it is entitled to enrich uranium as a signatory to the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the NPT.
