VIENNA, 22 February 2007 — Iran vowed yesterday to press on with its nuclear fuel program, ignoring a UN deadline to freeze uranium enrichment or face broader sanctions, but offered to guarantee it would not try to develop atomic weapons.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remained defiant as a 60-day grace period Iran had been given on Dec. 23 to stop enriching uranium for nuclear fuel was expiring.
“We ... will continue our work to reach our right (to nuclear technology) in the shortest possible time,” student news agency ISNA quoted him as saying in the town of Siahkal.
With the deadline running out, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been unable to verify Iran’s program is wholly peaceful after three years of investigations, was expected to report to the UN Security Council by today that Tehran was pursuing enrichment regardless of pressure to stop.
“Obtaining this technology is very important for our country’s development and honor,” Ahmadinejad said. “It is worth it to stop other activities for 10 years and focus only on the nuclear issue.”
The Council, which two months ago banned transfers of nuclear technology and expertise to Iran, was to consider wider sanctions if Tehran had not frozen enrichment work by yesterday (Feb. 21).
The result was already clear, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “The Iranians have unfortunately not acceded to the international community’s demands and we will have to consult. We will have to decide how to move forward,” she told reporters during a visit to Berlin yesterday.
In another development, India banned all exports and imports to and from Iran that could contribute to Tehran’s nuclear program, the Commerce Ministry said yesterday.
