TEHRAN, May 15: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany on Monday that any halt to uranium enrichment was unacceptable, the official IRNA news agency reported. “Any call for a suspension or pause (in uranium enrichment) is illogical and unacceptable and will without any doubt be rejected,” the ministry quoted Mottaki as saying.

“Tehran is ready to negotiate and would welcome any constructive proposal which both guarantees Iran’s legitimate rights and helps settle the nuclear issue.”

The minister said any new package of incentives offered by the European Union in return for allaying Western concerns needed to recognize Iran’s absolute right to master nuclear technology and the means of achieving it.

“The Europeans have shown that they don’t pay the slightest attention to our rights and are not sincere when they say they want to reach a peaceful settlement,” Mr Mottaki said.

“Iran’s latest achievements in uranium enrichment are an irreversible reality,” Mottaki stressed, referring to the process that when extended had produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

Iran announced earlier this month that it had successfully enriched uranium to 4.8 per cent purity, comfortably sufficient for producing fuel for civil reactors, but far short of the more than 90 per cent purity needed for a weapon.

During the day Mr Mottaki also received the ambassadors of China and Russia, which like Britain, France and the United States wield a veto on the UN Security Council.

The United States has been seeking sanctions from the United Nations Security Council.—AFP