Iran rules out atomic freeze at landmark meeting

Published on Saturday 19 July 2008 19:36

IRANIAN officials ruled out any freeze in uranium enrichment yesterday as talks over Tehran's nuclear programme, attended for the first time by a senior US diploma, got under way.

"Any kind of suspension or freeze is out of the question," an Iranian official said, rejecting the main condition set by the US and other major powers for formal negotiations to end the long-running dispute.

The participation of US envoy William Burns in the one-day meeting in Geneva, together with Iranian comments playing down the likelihood of a US or Israeli attack, had raised hopes of progress and helped ease record oil prices.

But on the nuclear programme, Keyvan Imani, Iran's ambassador to Switzerland, said: "It is not in Iran's agenda to discuss this issue. As our supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] clearly said, our path is very clear: we are not going to abandon our rights."

Last week, Khamenei said Iran was ready to negotiate.

A western diplomat said the atmosphere of yesterday's talks was "fine", despite the Iranians' unwillingness to suspend or freeze enrichment. "They are looking more at substantive issues that would be addressed in full negotiations," he said.

Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki portrayed the talks as "positive and constructive". "Today's meeting might continue with several others, so that the viewpoints of all sides can be put on the table so that we reach... agreement," he said in Tehran.

He said he hoped the talks would pave the way for "a modality and a framework" for further negotiations.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, rejects suspicions that it wants to build an atom bomb, saying the nuclear programme is to generate electricity.

Western diplomats say they want the talks to clarify Iran's response to an offer, delivered last month, of technical and commercial incentives to suspend uranium enrichment.

Asked about the Iranian rejection of suspension, the spokeswoman for chief EU envoy Javier Solana said: "We are ready to look at creative manners to allow negotiations to start in full agreement with the UN Security Council."

The UN has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran in a stand-off that goes back to 2002. Tension has intensified since Tehran tested missiles earlier this month, alarming Israel and unsettling energy markets.

Yet oil prices slipped on Friday, 13% down from last week's record of more than $147 a barrel of crude. Traders cited as factors the attendance of Burns – who helped restore US ties with Libya in 2006 – and a comment by Mottaki that the chances of an Israeli or US strike were "almost zero".