Iranian Rejects Proposal, Angering Russia

TEHRAN – AP - Iran ruled out a Russian proposal aimed at easing tensions over its nuclear program Sunday, drawing criticism from a senior lawmaker in Moscow who said the decision destroyed the last chance for compromise before the U.N. Security Council takes on the issue this week.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also warned that Iran is considering large-scale uranium enrichment at home as a response to the International Atomic Energy Agency's decision to refer Tehran to the Security Council.

However, Tehran did back away from a threat to use oil as an economic weapon if the council should impose sanctions.

Russia had sought to persuade Iran to move its enrichment program to Russian territory, which would allow closer international monitoring. Iran reached basic agreement with Moscow on the plan, but the details were never worked out.

"The Russian proposal is not on our agenda any more," Asefi told reporters. "Circumstances have changed. We have to wait and see how things go with the five veto-holding countries (on the council)."

The comments effectively meant the Russian proposal was dead after the nuclear watchdog agency referred Iran to the Security Council, which can impose political and economic sanctions, last week.

"We are not afraid of the Security Council. What is important for us is defending our legitimate rights," Asefi said. "Iran is a powerful country and is able to defend its interests."

In Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of international affairs committee of the lower house of parliament, harshly criticized Iran, saying the decision meant the end of chances for a compromise on the issue, according to Russian news reports.

Kosachev also warned Tehran that its refusal to continue talks on the Russian offer could "radicalize" the Security Council debate on the issue.

The United States and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies any intention to build weapons, saying it only aims to produce energy.

A Western diplomat, who insisted on anonymity in detailing the confidential discussions, said a new meeting among the permanent council members — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — was planned Monday to look at a revised draft statement. The text was aimed at pressuring Tehran to resolve questions about its nuclear program, including demands that it abandon uranium enrichment.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran had no intention to use oil as a weapon in the confrontation, contradicting a statement a day earlier by Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to continue to provide Asia with the oil it needs as a reliable and effective source of energy and will not use oil as a foreign policy instrument," he said at a conference on energy and security issues in Tehran.

Iran is the No. 2 producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after Saudi Arabia. It also has partial control of the narrow Straits of Hormuz, a key route for most of the crude oil shipped from the Persian Gulf nations to world markets.

Tehran, which only has an experimental nuclear research program, repeatedly has warned it will begin large-scale uranium enrichment if referred it the Security Council, which occurred last week.

Asefi suggested Tehran would wait for the outcome of the Security Council meetings to make a decision on whether to start large-scale enrichment, which scientists say would take months to do.

"Regarding industrial scale uranium enrichment, we are going to wait for two, three days," he said.

Uranium enriched to a low level produces fuel that can be used in a nuclear reactor, while higher enrichment produces the material needed for a warhead.

Iran has insisted it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. It restarted research-scale uranium enrichment last month, two years after voluntarily freezing the program during talks with Germany, Britain and France.

Mottaki, the foreign minister, also reiterated a veiled warning that Iran may consider withdrawing from the NPT if its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel is not respected.

"If we reach a point that the existing rules don't meet the right of the Iranian nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran may reconsider policies," he said.

A report last week by IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran was testing centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched uranium, and had plans to begin installation of the first 3,000 centrifuges late this year. Iran will need to install about 60,000 centrifuges for a large-scale enrichment of uranium.