Under pressure, Iran takes nuclear row to new level

The argument over Iran’s nuclear ambitions deteriorated today as Iranian negotiators threatened to restart uranium enrichment and accused the West of trying to humiliate them.

Under pressure from Britain, France and Germany, who today recommended that Iran should be reported to the United Nations Security Council for the aggressive development of its nuclear programme, Iran said it would not give in to force.

“If we are sent to the UN Security Council, we will review our stance on the additional protocol and will not hesitate to resume uranium enrichment,” said Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.

The “additional protocol” of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty allow snap inspections of nuclear sites by international inspectors and are seen as a crucial means of keeping Iran’s atomic programme in check.

Enriched uranium is an essential component of a nuclear weapon. Iran argues that it has the right to enrich uranium for use in power stations, but the EU and America fear that Tehran will divert the process to make a bomb.

In today’s heated rhetoric, Mr Larijani said the EU was trying to bully Iran: “The Europeans have been trying to humiliate the Iranians. Do not doubt that enrichment is a national desire,” he said.

Mr Larijani also warned that countries who opposed Iran’s nuclear ambitions should beware the economic consequences of angering the world’s fourth largest oil producer. Iran exports around four million barrels of oil per day.

“Those countries that have economic transactions with Iran, especially in the field of oil, have not defended Iran’s rights so far,” he said. “So based on how much they defend Iran’s national right will facilitate their participation in Iran’s economic field.”

Mr Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which sets a range of government policy, said the Iranian leadership was “very determined to make a balance between these two things”.

Mr Larijani’s comments came after the EU circulated a draft resolution among the 35 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is meeting in Vienna this week. The resolution urged members to report Iran to the UN for its “many failures and breaches” in the rules governing its nuclear programme.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, also added his voice to the dispute today, saying Iran would not yield to the threats of the “arrogant world”.

“The Iranian nation today is stronger than ever and with firm determination is strongly pushing forward its aims and will not yield to any threats,” he told Iranian state television.

“Despite the arrogant world’s demands, today the Iranian nation strongly resists their threats,” he said.