EU over-reacted to Iran's nuclear move: minister

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki accused the European Union on Sunday of over-reacting to Tehran's resumption last week of atomic research and urged it to return to negotiations.

Leading EU powers Britain, France and Germany joined Washington last week in saying the time had come to send Iran to the UN Security Council, where it could face sanctions, after it removed UN seals at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

Iran insists it only wants to enrich uranium to a low-grade, suitable in nuclear power reactors and not to the highly enriched levels required to make bomb-grade material.

Mottaki played down the move, saying Iran had not resumed the production of nuclear fuel. But he declined to rule out the possibility of some small-scale enrichment tests taking place.

"We have renewed research and development for peaceful nuclear activities and that is separate from nuclear fuel production," he told Reuters in an interview.

"So it is a little bit strange to us this impatient (EU) approach to the issue," he said.

Agreeing to re-suspend nuclear research, which Iran halted more than two years ago as part of talks with the EU trio, would be like accepting a "scientific apartheid", Mottaki said.

"We recommend our European colleagues, particularly the EU trio, stay patient, follow a logical approach and leave room for further negotiations," he added.

He spoke a day before London was due to host a meeting of Foreign Ministry officials from the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany to discuss Iran's nuclear case.

The EU trio and the United States want to call an emergency meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to discuss referring Iran's case to the Security Council.

IRAN IS SERIOUS

Iran has warned it will curtail its cooperation with IAEA inspectors if it is sent to the Security Council.

"We hope our European colleagues move wisely, patiently and take correct steps. They know very well that Iran is quite serious about obtaining its rights," Mottaki said.

Asked whether Iran planned to resume small-scale enrichment tests at a pilot facility in Natanz, Mottaki said: "Anything which is necessary for research will be done there."

Moscow last month formally proposed to Iran a compromise solution aimed at allaying Western fears that Iran could produce bomb-grade nuclear fuel.

Under the Russian proposal, Iran would take part in a joint-venture to enrich uranium on Russian soil for Iran's planned nuclear reactors.

Iran has agreed to study the proposal while insisting that it will not forego its right to enrich uranium on its own soil.

"Agreeing to enrichment on Russian territory does not mean not enriching in Iran (as well)," Mottaki said. He said talks between Iran and Russia would continue in Moscow on February 17.

He said Iran stood by its own proposal, first made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UN General Assembly in September, that other countries join Iran in developing its Natanz enrichment plant.

"We don't know what other options we can offer," to show that Iran has no intention of making nuclear arms, Mottaki said.

Source

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