Reuters: Iran will not halt uranium enrichment even with delivery of fuel from Russia for its first nuclear power plant, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, adding he could not yet confirm Iran had received the fuel. TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran will not halt uranium enrichment even with delivery of fuel from Russia for its first nuclear power plant, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, adding he could not yet confirm Iran had received the fuel.
The Russian state agency building the station said in a statement on Monday it had delivered the first fuel shipment for the Bushehr plant. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the move would create the conditions for Iran to suspend enrichment.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt enrichment, a process which the West believes Tehran is seeking to master so that it will have the ability to build nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists its plans are peaceful.
“There is no talk of halting enrichment. Nothing is related to freezing enrichment. The delivery (of fuel) is not in the framework of the (U.N.) resolutions or the framework of talks,” the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
Asked if Iran would halt enrichment under any condition, he said: “No, not at all.”
The delivery of fuel is likely to have far-reaching diplomatic repercussions because the United States and other countries have urged Moscow not to despatch the fuel.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi, writing by Edmund Blair)
