TEHRAN, Sept 26: Iran assured the world again on Sunday it had no immediate plans to resume uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to develop nuclear weapons.
"Resuming uranium enrichment is not in our agenda. We are still committed to the suspension," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.
European countries, Russia and the UN nuclear watchdog have urged Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment programme and threatened to take tougher actions against the Islamic state if Tehran continued to defy the call.
Iran had promised Britain, Germany and France last October it would suspend all enrichment-related activities. But while Iran has not enriched any uranium, it had begun processing raw uranium to prepare it for enrichment - a process that can be used to develop nuclear bombs.
"We have started some activities like building centrifuge parts. No discussion about enrichment at all," Asefi said, adding Iran would continue to refrain from injecting uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges which spin at high speed to produce enriched uranium.
Some Western diplomats said Europeans were losing their patience with Tehran over its atomic dossier and they might soon support US demands to refer the case to the UN Security Council in November for possible economic sanctions.
Asefi said Iran had no fear of sanctions. "In case of any sanctions on Iran, the international community will be harmed more than Iran," Asefi said. The Security Council could start with a strong statement urging Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), diplomats said.
The United States and some other nations believe Iran intends to use fissile material for weapons. Iran denies it, saying its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes. Asefi said the only way to solve international stand off over Iran's nuclear dossier, was dialogue, not threats.
"Through talks we can make a bridge between their concerns and our legitimate rights," Asefi said. The United States and Israel have hinted at the possibility of military action to take out Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
"Israel is not on a level to threaten Iran. As a country which has nuclear weapons, it has no right to talk about arms," Asefi said. -Reuters