Iran Focus: London, Aug. 04 – Iran continued its nuclear brinkmanship on Thursday with a new threat to restart uranium enrichment at its massive nuclear enrichment site in Natanz, central Iran. Hossein Moussavian, a leading nuclear negotiator for the Islamic Republic, told the state television, “If the Europeans call an extraordinary meeting [of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency”>, that will be a violation of all international rules and they should not expect us to continue the suspension of our activities at
the Natanz enrichment plant”. Iran Focus
London, Aug. 04 – Iran continued its nuclear brinkmanship on Thursday with a new threat to restart uranium enrichment at its massive nuclear enrichment site in Natanz, central Iran.
Hossein Moussavian, a leading nuclear negotiator for the Islamic Republic, told the state television, “If the Europeans call an extraordinary meeting [of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency”>, that will be a violation of all international rules and they should not expect us to continue the suspension of our activities at the Natanz enrichment plant”.
Moussavians warning came after earlier reports in the day from Vienna that the Europe Union has called for a meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s governing board early next week.
“This board meeting is just to warn the Iranians”, a diplomat close to negotiations between Tehran and the EU-3 told the Reuters news agency, adding that the meeting was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.
Iran had undertaken to suspend all nuclear fuel cycle activities including uranium conversion and enrichment in the November 2004 Paris Agreement with the European trio of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom who are spearheading the talks.
Up until now, Tehran had threatened to restart work at its Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan, central Iran. The new threat could have far-reaching consequences for Europes nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic and may see Irans nuclear file hauled before the United Nations Security Council.
Moussavian also said that work at the Isfahan site would begin in the next one or two days.
The European Union, United States, IAEA, and the United Nations have all separately urged Iran not to restart work at the Isfahan plant.
Highly-enriched uranium is used primarily to make nuclear bombs. Irans massive uranium enrichment site at Natanz was kept secret from the world by Tehran, until the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran exposed it in August 2002.
