TEHRAN, 18 May 2006 — Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday ridiculed a European Union plan to offer trade and technology incentives in exchange for his country agreeing to halt sensitive nuclear work.

“They say they want to give us incentives. They think they can take away our gold and give us some nuts and chocolate in exchange,” Ahmadinejad told a rally in the town of Arak.

In a feisty speech carried live on state-run television, he vowed the Islamic regime would not bow to demands it freeze uranium enrichment work — at the center of fears the country could acquire atomic weapons.

The president also warned that Iran could quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and halt International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.

“We accepted a suspension for two years. This was a bitter experience for the Iranian people,” Ahmadinejad said, referring to a now-moribund deal with leading EU members Britain, France and Germany.

“The Iranians won’t be bitten twice on the same spot,” he told a crowd of thousands, drawing chants of “Death to America!” and “Ahmadinejad, we love you!”

Enrichment is a process that makes fuel for nuclear power reactors but can also produce the core of a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that it only wants to make reactor fuel and that this is a right enshrined by the NPT.

“There is no need to give us incentives, just don’t try to wrong us,” said the president during the rock festival-style rally.

The European powers are currently drawing up a package of trade and technological incentives they hope will coax Iran into voluntarily curbing its atomic ambitions. Under the draft deal, Russia would enrich uranium on Iran’s behalf, diplomats say.

The offer — which could include helping Iran acquire a light-water nuclear reactor — was to have been reviewed tomorrow in London by the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, but this meeting has been postponed by around 10 days.

“The reason is to allow more detailed preparations on the EU-3 proposals to Iran,” a British Foreign Office spokesman told AFP.