Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday that his
country would not give up its rights to uranium enrichment despite a deadline
set by the United Nations Security Council.
Speaking at a conference on regional security and the Iraqi issue in Tehran,
Mottaki said, "Once again the Security Council is on the threshold of a big
test, the Iranian nation has collectively decided to seek its rights within the
framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."
"Western countries want to stand against the firm will of the Iranian people.
They say that they can have nuclear weapons, but we can not even have (civilian)
nuclear technology," Mottaki complained, adding that "the logic is condemned,
and the Iranian nation, in order to prove this, will stand firm and united." The
UN Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment
activities by April 28, which was rejected by Tehran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to hold a press conference
Monday afternoon to underline the country's refusal to compromise.
Mohamed El Baradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is
expected to submit a report on Iran's nuclear issue to the Security Council in
the coming days.
On April 11, Ahmadinejad officially declared that Iran has gained ticket to
join global nuclear club by having produced 3.5 percent enriched uranium, a
technological leap in the process for nuclear power plant construction, which
immediately aroused strong concern internationally.
The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons
under a civilian front, but Iran denied the charge, saying that its nuclear
program is fully peaceful.