Oct. 26, 2003
Photo: This slide released 05 February 2003 by the US State Department shows an aluminum tube found in Iraq that could be used to enrich uranium for use in weapons of mass destruction. (AFP-HO/File)
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday Iran had yet to suspend uranium enrichment, backtracking on his earlier statement that the process had already been suspended.
"We are discussing and examining how to suspend enrichment," Hamid Reza Asefi told Reuters by telephone.
He earlier told a news conference Iran had suspended its disputed enrichment process following a deal with the EuropeanUnion "big three" who pressed Iran to prove it was not seeking nuclear arms.
Iran met with foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday and agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and sign up to snap inspections of nuclear sites.
Asefi described the agreement as being in the interests of Iran but said the Islamic Republic reserved the right to restart enrichment at its own discretion.
"Any time we feel it is necessary, we will stop the suspension," he told reporters at the news conference.
The Islamic Republic was given an October 31 deadline by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog to prove it is not seeking atomic weapons by granting inspectors "unrestricted access" to nuclear sites and suspending uranium enrichment.
Photo: Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami speaks during a news conference at the 10th Organization of Islamic Conference summit in Putrajaya near Kuala Lumpur October 17, 2003. Khatami said on Friday his country had no plans to build nuclear weapons and predicted that it would reach an agreement on its nuclear program with the U.N. atomic watchdog. Photo by Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters
A member of the Expediency Council, the powerful body that arbitrates between the predominantly reformist parliament and the hardline Guardian Council, was reported on Saturday as saying an order to suspend enrichment had been issued.
Reformist President Mohammad Khatami has said Iran would suspend uranium enrichment as a gesture of goodwill. Analysts say he would never have been able to make such a move without the consent of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has said it planned to enrich uranium to the low level required to fuel nuclear power stations to meet booming domestic electricity demand, not enrich it further to weapons-grade.
Asefi said a new team of U.N. inspectors arrived in Iran on Sunday to verify details of documents regarding Iran's nuclear history handed to U.N. atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
About 30 religious students dressed in white shrouds gathered outside the Foreign Ministry building in Tehran to protest against what they saw as Iran's shameful concession to international pressure.
"Nuclear technology is our absolute right. No compromise. Death to America," they chanted.
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