Iran 'To Keep Enrichment Program'

CNN News:

Iran's foreign minister has said his country's "final target" is to enrich uranium on its own soil -- even if it accepts a Russian proposal to enrich Iranian uranium there, according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was in Tokyo on Tuesday to meet with Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report to its board of governors that Iran had already begun uranium enrichment on a very small scale.

"We are talking about moving together from where we are now and there is no going back," Mottaki said in an interview with Kyodo. "It means the current situation will be kept and will continue." READ MORE

Earlier this week, Iran and Russia reported progress in negotiations for a joint enrichment venture which the West hoped would defuse a tense standoff with the Iranians over their nuclear program.

Moscow had offered to enrich uranium for Iran inside Russia, provided Iran ceased enrichment activities inside its own borders.

Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes only, but the West, particularly the United States, remains skeptical that the supposed nuclear power program is simply a front for a nuclear weapons program.

In its report for the March 6 board of governors' meeting, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, the IAEA said Iran was gradually increasing its enrichment work, but remained for the moment far short of the production it would need for weapons.

Earlier this month, the board of governors agreed to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council based on this upcoming report. The Security Council will use the report to decide what action -- likely sanctions of some sort -- will be taken against Iran.

Negotiations between Iran and the "EU-3" -- Britain, France and Germany -- had failed to reach an agreement over the nuclear program, prompting the push for Security Council referral.

To get approval from Russia and China, the resolution was amended to delay any action by the Security Council against Iran until after the IAEA report is presented to the board next week.

China and Russia, both members of the Security Council, have said they prefer to resolve the situation through diplomatic means and that sanctions would be counterproductive.

Russia, one of Iran's largest trading partners, is trying to head off the nuclear dispute and avoid sanctions.

Iran announced on February 9 -- just after the decision on Security Council referral -- that it intended to begin nuclear research at its Natanz facility. According to the report, it began tests of a single centrifuge on February 11, graduating to 10 centrifuges four days later and to 20 centrifuges on February 22.

Thousands of centrifuges must be in operation to produce enough enriched uranium for nuclear weaponry.

CNN's Matthew Chance contributed to this report.