Nuclear research a must, says Iran

IRAN’S Foreign Ministry yesterday insisted on a right to do research on nuclear centrifuges in a threat that could scupper a deal with the European Union to dispel international fears Tehran seeks nuclear arms.

“The resolution is still unsatisfactory for Iran and some points should be changed,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

“We have always had this research and development issue and have never abandoned it. It should be continued.”

On Saturday, EU representatives France, Britain and Germany told Iran that without agreement to freeze key parts of its atomic program by today, the EU will not block the way to UN sanctions against Tehran, diplomats said.

Iran promised Britain, France and Germany on November 14 it would halt all activities related to uranium enrichment, a process that creates atomic fuel for power plants or weapons.

But Tehran then demanded an exemption for some 20 enrichment centrifuges for research purposes, an action diplomats argued could torpedo the whole deal.

Centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning it at supersonic speed. Western diplomats on Friday said Iran had given up on these proposed revisions, again stealing momentum from Washington’s camp, which wants to haul Tehran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.