,
Iran has vowed that it will not suspend uranium enrichment, defying warnings from world powers that it faces UN Security Council sanctions for failing to halt the sensitive nuclear work.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech outside Tehran on Wednesday that Iran would not back down “one inch” against Western pressure for it to halt enrichment — a process the West fears could be used to make a nuclear bomb.
“They (the West) want us to stop our (nuclear) machines just for a day to launch a war of propaganda against Iran. But if we stop our machines there will be nothing left to negotiate,” he said.
“We will not accept any climbdown, we will not accept any suspension,” added Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the deputy to Iran's top nuclear negotiator.
The unequivocal vows not to halt enrichment appear to open the way for Tehran's case to be sent to the Security Council and a draft resolution prepared for possible sanctions.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana have staged four rounds of talks on Iran's nuclear programme but have failed to make a breakthrough. It is unclear if they will meet again.
“We have reached common ground on an important number of issues but we have not agreed in what was the key point, which is the question of suspension of activities,” Solana admitted to the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee.
“The dialogue cannot last for ever. It is up to the Iranians now to decide whether this time has come to an end. If this is the case, we will have to begin to follow the second track” of the Security Council, he added.
Enrichment of uranium is at the heart of the crisis. The process can be used to make nuclear fuel and, in highly enriched form, the explosive core of an atomic bomb.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful energy needs, vehemently rejecting US allegations that it is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons.
The United States has repeatedly insisted that Iran would be sent to the Security Council automatically if it failed to suspend enrichment, while France spoke up in favour of sanctions against Tehran if its position does not shift.
“The international community is running out of time because soon its own credibility in terms of enforcing its own resolutions will be… a matter of question,” said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, the pointman on Iran, told The Washington Times: “At some point, you have to draw the line. So I think you'll have the answer by the end of the week.”
A high-ranking British official has said preparations are now under way to propose a draft resolution at the UN Security Council under Article 41 of the UN Charter, which allows for economic sanctions.
France, like Washington and London, is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council. It said that if Iran does not suspend enrichment, world powers will “draw the consequences”.
“The measures which could be taken under resolution 1696 (which opens up the possibility of sanctions) should be progressive, proportionate and reversible,” said foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei.
It remains to be seen how the two other permanent Security Council members, Russia and China, would respond to a draft resolution proposing sanctions. Both have always insisted on a diplomatic solution to the standoff.
Despite the threats, Ahmadinejad maintained a defiant front in two speeches Wednesday afternoon outside Tehran, lambasting the West for blocking Iran's progress.
“They are hostile to our progress and they do not want Iran to become a model. They fear that if we develop we will become the greatest world power,” he said in a speech in the city of Hashtgerd.
“They cannot obtain in negotiations what they could not achieve by force and pressure,” he added.
The deputy head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Mohammad Saeedi, on Tuesday ruled out suspending enrichment but instead suggested France creates a consortium to enrich uranium on French soil.
However Rice, who is on a visit to the Middle East, dismissed the move as an “old idea” that has “been around for a while” while France reacted with little enthusiasm.
Iranian officials on Wednesday also appeared to backtrack from the idea, with foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini saying “no decision has been taken for the moment on how to form a consortium”.
