TEHRAN, 27 October 2004 — Iranian MPs are Sunday to debate a bill which would force the government to resume uranium enrichment, a key process in the nuclear fuel cycle, in defiance of the international community. “Ninety-three deputies have signed the bill,” said Rafaat Bayat, a conservative MP whose faction controls the 290-seat Parliament, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
It calls for “an immediate halt to the suspension of uranium enrichment as well as to the voluntary implementation of the additional protocol” of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, she said. Iranian government agreed in late 2003 to suspend enrichment and signed the additional protocol allowing more intrusive inspections by the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, said Monday that Tehran was ready to consider a European request to maintain the enrichment suspension, ahead of renewed talks on the standoff in Vienna today.
Three European states last week offered Iran a deal under which Tehran would receive valuable nuclear technology if it indefinitely suspended all uranium enrichment activities, a key stage in the nuclear fuel cycle. The three — Britain, France and Germany - hope that if Iran agrees to the deal it will be possible to stave off US demands for the nuclear issue to be sent before the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions. The two sides are to meet again today in the Austrian capital.
