Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 05 – Iran will not bow down to European and United States’ demands to cease its nuclear activities, a powerful hard-line cleric said during Tehran’s Friday prayers sermon. “I tell them [the U.S. and the Europeans”> that no matter how much bribe you give Iran to abdicate its legal rights, the Iranian government and our
people will not give up their inalienable rights under any circumstances”, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who chairs Iran’s powerful Guardian Council, said.

AFP: The European Union’s “policy of appeasement” towards Iran is only strengthening Tehran’s ruling clerics, the main Iranian opposition group said Friday as it urged UN Security Council action on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The exiled National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), based in Paris, said it had sent a letter to EU foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warning them that Europe was playing into Iran’s hands.

AFP: Japan on Friday urged Iran not to carry out its threats to resume sensitive nuclear work Tehran had stopped as part of a deal last year with the European Union.
“Japan strongly calls on Iran to withdraw its decision to
resume uranium conversion activities,” a foreign ministry statement said, urging Iran to fulfill resolutions of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

AFP: The watchdog UN atomic agency will meet next Tuesday following Iran’s threats to resume sensitive nuclear fuel cycle work, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
spokesman said Friday.

Reuters: The European Union on Friday insisted Iran give up nuclear fuel work and called an urgent meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog that could refer Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions. But a senior Iranian nuclear negotiator said the Islamic Republic would resume work at a nuclear fuel plant regardless of EU proposals for political and economic incentives that offered support for the building of nuclear power stations.

AFP: Speaking shortly after the European Union submitted proposals aimed at ending the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday he hoped Tehran would “hear the voice of reason” and abandon its uranium conversion plans. If it did not, he warned in an interview with Europe 1 radio, it was certain that Iran would be hauled before the UN Security Council, where it would face possible sanctions.

Reuters: Britain, France and Germany submitted proposals to Iran on Friday for economic and political cooperation meant to persuade Tehran to abandon all activities which might be used to make a nuclear bomb. Iran repeatedly threatened this week to resume uranium processing, a move that would end two years of talks and could lead to its referral to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Financial Times: Nearly two years of delicate negotiations between Iran and the European Union over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme could be on the point of collapse today, setting the scene for a confrontation at the United Nations. Senior Iranian officials told the Financial Times that talks with France, Germany and the UK – the EU3 – would be over if their latest proposed incentives did not give approval for Tehran to resume work at a key facility at Isfahan.