Iran to resume uranium enrichment on August 1

Iran Focus:

Iran will resume uranium enrichment activities in the uranium conversion facilities near the central city of Isfahan on August 1, the country's semi-official daily, Jomhouri Islami, wrote in its Thursday editorial.

"Iran's unambiguous message to Britain, Germany and France in the talks that were conducted [in London] yesterday was that at the end of the deadline on August 1, Iran will resume enrichment activities in the UCF plant in Isfahan, and that nothing will be able to delay this action", the daily, which is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, its founder and first publisher, wrote. READ MORE

"The Iranian people expect the authorities and the state to remain committed to this decision carry it through. Let there be no more procrastination by the Europeans in a bid to compel our officials to review their decision to resume enrichment", Jomhouri Islami's editorial added.

Iran agreed in November to suspend enrichment activities during negotiations with Britain, France and Germany, representing the European Union. The EU-3 have promised to come up with a proposal by the end of this month that could make or break a lengthy diplomatic process aimed at easing fears in the West that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons technology.

Iran's decision to resume uranium enrichment is being made public after a string of hard-line pronouncements in recent days on Iran's nuclear programme by senior Iranian officials, including outgoing President Mohammad Khatami.

"Iran's mastering of the fuel cycle is the right of the Iranian people... and is not negotiable," Khatami said in a speech on Tuesday.

The influential ultra-conservative daily Kayhan threatened the EU-3 in its Wednesday editorial that Iran would soon resume work at Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.

The editorial, entitled, "Don't threaten us with the Security Council," underscored Iran's determination "to never abandon the use of nuclear fuel cycle technology". The paper challenged France, Germany and Britain to send Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council.

"Nothing will happen in the Security Council", the ultra-conservative daily wrote. "The only thing that will happen is that we will be able to resume our suspended activities and quickly reach results. The Security Council will open up big avenues in front of us, but the Europeans will lose the only option that they now have".