Willing to negotiate on some centrifuges: Iran

Tehran, May 30 : Iran today said it was willing to negotiate the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges it uses for research, but stressed it would not stop running the devices entirely as the UN Security Council has called for.

The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi were the clearest sign so far that Iran could curb some centrifuge work to try to defuse a standoff which could lead to sanctions or even military action against the Islamic Republic.

But it was still unlikely to satisfy many Western powers, particularly the United States, which fear Iran could use even limited enrichment facilities to master the technology required to make atomic weapons.

Iran says its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful.

''There is no consensus on the number of centrifuges to be used for research and it is a subject for negotiation to be discussed with other parties,'' Asefi told a news conference.

Iran in April said it had produced a small amount of enriched uranium from 164 centrifuges in a research environment.

Centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning it at supersonic speeds.

If enriched to a low level, the nuclear fuel produced by centrifuges can be used in power stations. But if taken to a higher level, it can be used in warheads.

Some analysts say Iran wants to use its research success to build a strong negotiating position from which it might later curb its nuclear programme in return for incentives, such as security guarantees, from the West.

But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed that Iran's ultimate goal is industrial-scale enrichment to run power stations and other analysts argue Tehran will never backtrack after investing so much in its nuclear drive.

RESISTING THE UNITED NATIONS

Iran has been referred to the UN Security Council after failing to convince the international community that its nuclear ambitions are limited to the peaceful production of electricity.

Asefi said Iran would resist all calls from the world body to stop its centrifuge work entirely.

''We will not accept anything beyond our obligations to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Therefore if they ask us to freeze our research work, we will not accept that,'' he said.

Western diplomats say a freeze on all enrichment is the only credible guarantee Iran can give that it is not seeking arms.

Although the 164 operational centrifuges pose little risk in terms of suspected arms manufacture, Iran's planned industrial-scale underground facilities near the central town of Natanz have aroused far more suspicion.

Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency it plans to start installing 3,000 centrifuges there by the end of this year. If running continuously for a year, these could produce enough uranium for a warhead.

These 3,000 would be the first part of a 50,000 planned centrifuge network at Natanz.

International observers of Iran's atomic work have said the quality of the uranium hexafluoride gas to be fed into centrifuges was of such a low quality it could damage them.

They have also doubted Iran's ability to work get full cascades of centrifuges to work together.

However, outside assessment of Iran's nuclear work has become more difficult since Tehran earlier this year stopped allowing snap checks of its atomic facilities.

Reuters

Related Stories
Six power to meet this week on Iran, says China