West cannot push Iran around, says ex-president

THE West cannot push Iran around as it has Libya and Iraq, a former Iranian president said yesterday.

Delivering the Friday prayers sermon at Tehran University, Hashemi Rafsanjani also criticised the UN nuclear watchdog for urging Iran to suspend its conversion of uranium ore into gas.

The International Atomic Energy Agency expressed "serious concern" on Thursday over Iran's decision to resume uranium conversion, a step before the enrichment of uranium - which produces material that can be used both for generating electricity or making atomic bombs.

In a resolution, the agency urged Iran to suspend conversion to reassure the United States and others it is not concealing a weapons programme. But the watchdog stopped well short of referring Iran to the UN Security Council, indicating it wanted to leave space for further negotiations.

France's foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, urged Iran yesterday to heed the world's call to halt uranium conversion and resume talks.

"I am sure that negotiations can resume on the condition that the Iranians decide to suspend these activities," he said in a statement. "Our hand remains outstretched."

France has joined with Britain and Germany in leading a European effort to entice Iran into giving up uranium enrichment in return for economic and political incentives.

Mr Rafsanjani, who lost the June presidential election but remains head of the influential Expediency Council, said he was surprised no country opposed the European-sponsored resolution that the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors adopted after three days of negotiations.

Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the IAEA's proceedings publicly said that Iran faced a September 3 deadline to stop uranium conversion or else face possible referral to the Security Council for consideration of sanctions.

Referring to the West, Mr Rafsanjani said: "These people think they have defeated Iran, but they should know that Iran is not a place where they can do what they did with Libya and Iraq".

"Our people are not going to allow their nuclear rights to be seized," he said.

Iran insists it has the right as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to carry out any nuclear activities short of producing nuclear weapons, including uranium enrichment to fuel reactors. It denies US accusations that it secretly aims to produce atomic weapons.

On Wednesday, Iran removed seals from its uranium conversion facility at Isfahan under the supervision of IAEA inspectors and resumed work at the site, which converts uranium ore into UF-6 gas.

But officials said Iran would not resume enrichment for now, saying it preferred to do so after reaching an agreement with the Europeans in talks that have been taking place since 2003.

Iran dismissed Thursday's resolution by the IAEA as a political move.

"It comes from American pressure," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi said. "It lacks any legal or logical basis and is unacceptable."