Reuters: Iran said on Tuesday it would continue enriching uranium, defying efforts by major powers to pressure Tehran into stopping such work.
TEHRAN, June 17 (Reuters) – Iran said on Tuesday it would continue enriching uranium, defying efforts by major powers to pressure Tehran into stopping such work.
The EU's top diplomat on Saturday presented Tehran with a package of economic benefits to try and persuade it to stop its nuclear programme, which the West fears could lead to a nuclear weapon.
"We have repeatedly said that enrichment is our red line and we should enjoy this technology. The work will be continued," deputy foreign minister Alireza Sheikhattar told reporters, according to the state news agency IRNA.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after talks in Tehran that Iran should stop enrichment during negotiations on the offer, a condition Tehran has repeatedly rejected.
The incentive package agreed by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany last month and delivered by Solana is a revised version of one rejected by Iran in 2006.
Western powers have warned Iran it will face more sanctions if it rejects the offer and presses on with its nuclear work. So far Iran has shown no sign of flexibility.
Sheikhattar said Iran was reviewing the incentives package.
"We will give our answer as soon as possible. But we do not know exactly when it will be," he said. (Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Giles Elgood)
