GENEVA, 9 February 2005 — Iran signaled its patience was wearing thin yesterday as it began fresh talks with European officials on Western demands that it abandon plans to make nuclear fuel, while Britain entered the fray by declaring that Tehran is a state sponsor of terrorism.

European officials began a fresh round of talks with Iran with a warning against any activities that would violate the spirit of a deal worked out late last year, diplomats said.

Britain, France and Germany “are going to read the riot act to the Iranians,” a diplomat close to the talks, which is aimed at getting Iran to guarantee that it is not developing nuclear weapons.

But Iran was warning that it is running out of patience in talks that began in December on suspending uranium enrichment in return for possible cooperation in atomic technology, regional security and nuclear verification. The talks are to lead to a high-level meeting in March, and Iran wants to see movement by then toward receiving those incentives.

“Our condition for a continuation of the talks is progress. Therefore, if the talks are not progressing (by March 20), we are not obliged to continue,” top Iranian national security official Hassan Rowhani told state television in Tehran.

Rowhani warned the United States that Iran’s nuclear sites cannot be destroyed by air or missile strikes and an attack would only push the activities underground.

“Our nuclear centers cannot be destroyed. Our nuclear technology comes from our scientists (and) we can transfer our nuclear workshops under mountains and carry out enrichment where no bomb or missile can be effective,” said the cleric, adding he did not consider an attack as a “serious threat.”

Rowhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, insisted that Iran was “not looking for increased tensions with any country, even with the Americans.”

“We are seeking to resolve our issues with the US. But they are blocking any chance of resolving the issues.”

But his comments were followed by yet more criticism of the 26-year-old Islamic republic, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair calling Iran a state sponsor of terrorism. “It certainly does sponsor terrorism. There’s no doubt about that at all,” Blair told a parliamentary committee, backing US President George W. Bush’s view of Iran.

Iran hit back by saying that the British prime minister had fallen under the influence of “extremists”. “This speech was influenced by extremist thought that blindly follows the Zionist regime,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement read out on state television.

The Geneva talks are being conducted in strict secrecy, with diplomats stressing that the long-term negotiations require confidence-building on both sides.

The three-day meeting in Geneva is the third round of talks since they began in December in Brussels.

Yesterday’s meeting, chaired by Britain, was on technology cooperation, with political security to be discussed today and the crucial nuclear dossier tomorrow chaired by France, diplomats said.