Tehran, September 29: Iran will not freeze uranium enrichment work as it is its “sovereign” right, nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi told a group of journalists working for international media on Tuesday.
“If we have the right to enrich uranium, if we have the right to convert uranium, if we have the right for fuel production … we will do this. We will not freeze them. This is our sovereign right, ” Salehi said.
“We will not bargain about our sovereign rights,” he added.
Uranium enrichment lies at the heart of concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme as the process makes nuclear fuel but in highly extended form can also be used to produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
Under US pressure, the UN Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment.
Iran says it has the right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to master the nuclear fuel cycle for peaceful purposes.
Uranium conversion is the process by which enriched uranium is turned into fuel pellets for a reactor.
Iran last week announced the construction of a second uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran. Its first such facility is in the central town of Natanz.
Salehi said on Tuesday the new plant “is small compared to Natanz,” which currently has close to 4,600 active centrifuges enriching uranium.
“Natanz is an industrial-scale plant. This (new) plant is not a pilot plant but a semi-industrial-scale one,” he said.
“This is a contingency plant. It is to show our determination that in any case we will not stop our nuclear programme.”
Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population.
Although Iran has oil, it is still dependent on petrol imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption.
Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear weapons.
Observers say due the strong Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in the US and some European countries, these countries have taken a hypocritical stance in relation to nuclear issues in the region.
Tehran had repeatedly protested against Israeli and US war threats, warning them that it would retaliate in the event of any strike against Iran.
—Agencies