Iran 'won't scrap nuclear programme'

Iran will not scrap its nuclear programme, despite mounting international pressure from countries such as the United States, an Iranian official said today.

“We’re not terrified of the US,” Gholamali Khoshroo, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, told reporters at a conference of Islamic scholars in Malaysia. We don’t want to upgrade tension with the US, but we want to live as a sovereign nation.”

Asked whether Iran might consider dismantling its nuclear programme following US President George W Bush’s comments last week that his administration won’t rule out using military force against Iranian nuclear installations, Khoshroo replied: “Never. For what reason?”

“Nobody has the right to threaten others,” Khoshroo added. “We are not living in the jungle. Those who have force should not use it unless there is legitimacy given by the international community to them.”

The United States and several other countries fear Iran is seeking to enrich uranium not to the low level needed to generate power, but to the high level needed for nuclear warheads.

Iran insists that it is only seeking to produce low-grade enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel.