Ahmadinejad Rejects UN Demand to Halt Nuclear Program
20 February 2007
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again rejected international demands to halt its nuclear activities.
Addressing a crowd in northern Iran (Gilan province) Tuesday, Mr. Ahmadinejad said Iran will not halt its uranium enrichment program unless other nations do the same.
He also repeated Iran's stance that it remains ready to resume nuclear talks without any conditions.
The Iranian leader's remarks come a day before a U.N. Security Council deadline, February 21, for Iran to stop enriching uranium or face possible further sanctions. The Council imposed economic sanctions last year, after Iran failed to meet an earlier U.N. deadline.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials say the country's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is due meet with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, in Vienna Tuesday.
The IAEA would not confirm that a meeting was planned.
The IAEA is expected to issue a report later this week confirming that Iran has defied a Security Council order to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
In other news, a top Iranian nuclear official said Iran is up to date with its payments for a Russian-built nuclear power plant. Iran's state news agency (IRNA) quoted the official as saying Iran has been making payments according to the contract for the Bushehr plant.
Earlier, Russian officials were quoted as saying the opening of the plant may be delayed because the Iranian government was behind on payments.
Russia is due to begin nuclear fuel deliveries to the plant in March. The nuclear power station is scheduled to open in September.
The United States and its Western allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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