Iran says it won't suspend uranium enrichment

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki today reiterated his country would never suspend uranium enrichment, a move the US says is essential for Washington-Tehran negotiations.

Demands for enrichment to be suspended were “illegitimate” and “will never materialise”, Mottaki told a conference in the capital Tehran.

However, Iran is prepared to negotiate about its nuclear programme “without any preconditions”, he said.

Iran suspended enrichment activities a few years ago as a goodwill gesture toward negotiations with Britain, France and Germany, but it resumed the process when it concluded the talks were leading nowhere.