UNITED NATIONS, 4 May 2005 — Iran is determined to carry out uranium enrichment and will not abandon such nuclear fuel work as a guarantee it is not making nuclear weapons, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said yesterday. “Iran for its part is determined to pursue all legal areas of nuclear technology, including enrichment exclusively for peaceful purposes,” Kharrazi told a non-proliferation conference at the United Nations.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned here Monday that resumption of any enrichment activities by Iran “would lead to a collapse of the talks” with the European Union on getting Iran to give guarantees it is not making atom bombs. Fischer said a breakdown in negotiations would also lead to a push by Europe and the United States to take Iran before the UN Security Council for possible international sanctions.

But Kharrazi said: “No one should be under the illusion that objective guarantees can theoretically or practically amount to cessation or even long-term suspension of legal activity” such as enrichment, which Iran claims is allowed for peaceful purposes under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that Iran would resume some nuclear activities suspended as part of a deal with the European Union, despite the threat of international sanctions. Iran agreed in November last to suspend its fuel cycle work and open talks with EU negotiators Britain, France and Germany.

But the government has since voiced frustration over the negotiations, in which the European trio is offering trade, security and technology incentives in return for “objective guarantees” from Iran that it will not develop nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, at least four people were killed and 26 others injured yesterday when an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted the western Iranian town of Borujerd, officials said. Quoted by the official news agency IRNA, local medical officials said the toll was a preliminary figure that only covered persons so far admitted for medical care. The quake struck at 0721 GMT, with the epicenter around 35 kilometers outside Borujerd in Lorestan province.