TEHRAN, 13 March 2006 — Iran will no longer consider a proposal to move its uranium enrichment program to Russian territory and is instead considering large scale uranium enrichment at home, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. The decision drew immediate rebuke from a senior Russian lawmaker in Moscow.
Russia has sought to persuade Iran to move its enrichment program to Russian territory, which would allow closer international monitoring. Iran had insisted that the plan was negotiable and reached basic agreement with Moscow but details were never worked out.
“The Russian proposal is not on our agenda any more,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
In Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of international affairs committee of the lower house of Parliament, harshly criticized Iran for its decision, saying the move had destroyed the only chance for a compromise in the Iranian nuclear standoff, according to Russian news reports.
Kosachev also warned Tehran that its refusal to continue talks on the Russian offer could “radicalize” a planned debate of the Iranian nuclear issue at the UN Security Council, the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies reported.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, meanwhile, said yesterday Iran had no intention to use oil as a weapon in its confrontation with the West over its nuclear program, contradicting Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi who said a day earlier that Tehran could use oil as a weapon if the UN Security Council imposed sanctions against it.
“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 told 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 Gulf states to world markets.
Asefi’s comments to reporters effectively mean the Russian proposal is dead after the International Atomic Energy Agency referred Iran to the UN Security Council last week.
“Circumstances have changed. We have to wait and see how things go with the five veto-holding countries (on the Council),” he said.
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.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — have been considering proposals to pressure Iran to resolve questions about its nuclear program, including demands that it abandon uranium enrichment. Scientists say Iran would need months to begin large-scale enrichment.
