Iran Dismisses World Pressure

Parisa Hafezi, Reuters:

Iran shrugged off mounting world pressures over its nuclear program on Friday, giving no hint it was ready to halt sensitive atomic work to enable next week's talks on a Russian compromise to make progress. "Nuclear technology is our red line and we will never abandon our legitimate right to this technology," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who heads Iran's top legislative watchdog, told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran.

"They (the West) are trying to terrify us with a scarecrow called the Security Council. We are not scared ... They will be harmed more than Iran if they act unwisely," he said. READ MORE

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran to the top U.N. body earlier this month for failing to quell suspicions it is seeking nuclear bombs. The council is awaiting a report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in March before taking any action.

Making nuclear weapons is "one of the greatest disasters that could afflict mankind", Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said during a visit to Beirut, citing religious teachings and guidance from his country's clerical leadership.

Germany, Britain and France have sought to persuade Iran not to resume atomic fuel activities so as to build confidence that its renunciation of nuclear military ambitions is genuine.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he shared the view expressed by his French counterpart on Thursday that Iran was pursuing a secret military nuclear program, but acknowledged this was a suspicion the IAEA had yet to confirm.

"The relevant report from Mr ElBaradei will come on March 6 and until then we have to work on the basis of a suspicion," he said.

The United States has spoken of rallying support for sanctions against Iran, but other veto-wielding members of the Security Council, such as Russia and China, are wary of this.

TALKS ON RUSSIAN PROPOSAL

Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear power reactor, hosts talks with Iran on Monday to explore Moscow's proposal to enrich uranium on Iran's behalf to help guarantee that Tehran cannot divert atomic fuel for bomb-making.

This week Iran restarted small-scale work at its pilot enrichment plant at Natanz after a 2 1/2-year suspension.

Western diplomats say they believe Iran, which insists on a right to enrich uranium at home, wants to buy time by discussing the Russian proposal, but is unlikely to accept it.

Iran's embassy in Paris said on Friday Tehran was ready to ask its parliament to ratify an accord allowing for snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities on certain conditions.

It did not mention Moscow's compromise proposal, but said Iran could accept a return to intrusive checks under the Additional Protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran has signed but not ratified the protocol.

An embassy statement linked the offer to the West accepting its use of "modern centrifuges, proposed by some American and British scientists, which permit only limited enrichment."

Iran has previously said it was ending voluntary cooperation with the IAEA and resuming uranium enrichment in retaliation for being reported to the Security Council.

World powers share concern about Iran's nuclear plans but with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough, there is no consensus yet on options such as sanctions, let alone military action.

After meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they had discussed how to get Iran to re-adopt positions that would permit cooperation.

The United States said on Thursday it was continuing to pursue diplomacy to resolve the nuclear standoff.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would visit Arab countries next week to lobby for pressure against Iran.

Iran expects the trade interests of Russia, China and other nations, as well as the potential damage to the global economy from any disruption to its oil exports, to work against any attempt to impose U.N. sanctions.

China and Iran could sign a deal worth as much as $100 billion in gas and oil sales and oilfield development as early as next month, China's semi-official Caijing Magazine said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his government was committed to building a $7 billion pipeline to carry Iranian gas to India across Pakistan. Washington opposes the plan.