Iran vows no u-turn

Iran's decision to enrich uranium is irreversible, its foreign ministry said yesterday in defiance of international demands to halt all nuclear work.

Iran, accused by Western nations of seeking nuclear bombs, said this month it had enriched uranium for the first time to a level used in power stations.

"Iran's uranium enrichment and nuclear research and development activities are irreversible," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.

Western nations have threatened to seek sanctions on Iran if it does not stop enrichment. The US has not ruled out military action, a step other Western states, as well as Russia and China, oppose.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to report by April 28 on whether Iran is complying with a UN demand that it halt enrichment, a process that can have civilian and military uses.

"If the (IAEA) report contains expert assessment, there will be nothing left to worry about," Mr Asefi said.

"However, if the report comes out and somehow puts pressure on Iran or speaks with a language of threats, naturally Iran will not abandon its rights and it is prepared for all possible situations and has planned for them," he said.

Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for generating electricity. Western nations say the only way for Tehran to prove it is not seeking atomic bombs is to renounce all sensitive nuclear technology. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he was very worried by Iran's latest statement, but said a military option was not on the agenda.