Iran Set to Offer New Nuclear Proposals

Ali Akbar Dareini, The Associated Press:

Iran will soon offer new proposals for negotiations with Europe over its controversial nuclear program, the country's ultraconservative president said Wednesday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he instructed the Supreme National Security Council to draw up a new set of proposals over Iran's uranium enrichment program.

"Iran will soon offer proposals about the cycle of nuclear fuel for peaceful use of nuclear energy,'' he said on state-run television.

"We want to continue talks with all. We will continue dialogue,'' he said, but he didn't elaborate if that included the United States. Iran has so far said it doesn't see any role for the United States to play as long as it continues to maintain its hostile approach toward Iran. READ MORE

The comments by Ahmadinejad suggest he wants to launch a new process of dialogue in the hope of persuading Europe to recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium. Europe has been trying to persuade Iran in the talks to give up its uranium enrichment program in return for economic incentives, a proposal Iran has rejected.

Enrichment is one of the final stages in the nuclear fuel process. It can produce either the fuel needed for a power reactor or material used in creating a nuclear bomb. Iran says its program is entirely peaceful, aiming only to produce electricity. The United States accuses Tehran of secretly pursuing a weapons program.

Iran suspended enrichment activities and other parts of its nuclear program as a gesture in negotiations last year. But earlier this month, Iran ended the freeze on a preliminary part of the nuclear cycle, uranium reprocessing.

France's foreign minister said Wednesday that the European Union still believes negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program are possible, despite the EU's canceling an Aug. 31 meeting in response to the resumption of reprocessing.

``We think it is still possible to talk to them,'' Philippe Douste-Blazy said on France Inter radio. ``We want to write a new page in relations between the European Union and Iran.''

Iran claimed victory Tuesday after the U.N. nuclear agency tests concluded that traces of highly enriched uranium found on centrifuge parts at two sites in Iran were from imported equipment - rather than any enrichment activities by Iran.

The findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency support Iran's claims that the material entered the country together with centrifuge parts provided by Pakistan.

The discovery of the traces was touted by the United States as evidence Iran was experimenting with producing highly enriched uranium, which is used only in nuclear weapons.