TEHRAN, Jan 7: Iran is to end its two-and-a-half year suspension of nuclear fuel research on Monday or Tuesday, a senior official announced, overshadowing the launch of talks with Russia on compomise proposals to end the nuclear stand-off with the West.

Saturday’s announcement came despite appeals for restraint from the European Union and warnings of a possible UN Security Council referral from Washington.

“The inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are in Tehran to remove the seals on the research centres on Monday or Tuesday,” the spokesman of Iran’s top security body, Hossein Entezami, told AFP.

“Our research activities will be under the supervision of the agency’s cameras.”

An IAEA spokesman in Vienna said the UN agency had yet to receive formal notification.

“We still have received no detailed clarification from Iran. Pending that, it’s business as usual, said the spokesman adding: “Our inspectors are there on a routine basis.”

Austria, the current holders of the European Union’s rotating presidency, called on Iran not to resume its nuclear research as planned, as it would violate IAEA resolutions and jeopardise any resumption of talks with the bloc, which were broken off last August.

“The EU regrets that Iran has chosen to announce this unilateral move at a moment when international confidence in the peaceful nature of its programme is far from restored,” a statement said.

“It finds it surprising and unreasonable that Iran proposes to do this at a moment when ... Britain, France and Germany with the EU were exploring with Iran the possibility of a return to negotiations.”

Washington had warned Thursday that it would consider seeking Iran’s referral to the UN Security Council if it went ahead with renewed research.

“If negotiations have been exhausted, we have the votes, there is a resolution sitting there on the Security Council, we’ll vote it,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The wrangle over the resumption of fuel cycle research overshadowed the launch of talks with a Russian delegation Saturday on a proposed compromise on Iran’s desire to resume uranium enrichment.

“The Russian delegation has started talks about joint enrichment on Russian territory and also enrichment on Iranian soil,” the spokesman of Iran’s top security body, Hossein Entezami, was quoted as saying.

Russian media said the delegation included deputy foreign minister Sergei Kisliak, security council deputy secretary Valentin Sobolev, and representatives of the Russian atomic energy organization Rosatom.

Moscow is proposing that Tehran carry out uranium enrichment on its territory to allay Western fears that the technology could allow Iran to produce a nuclear bomb.

Both the European Union and the United States have backed the proposal in principle.

But Iranian officials have blown hot and cold about the proposed compromise, first suggesting that they might consider it and then insisting that they would do so only if any deal explicitly recognized its right to carry out enrichment on Iranian soil.—AFP