Iran will make own nuclear fuel if IAEA deal fails

Iran will produce its own enriched uranium for a medical research reactor in Tehran if the UN atomic watchdog fails to provide the nuclear fuel, a senior hardline cleric said yesterday.

Ahmad Khatami, speaking at a Tehran University prayer service to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, warned world powers that Iran will not be cowed by threats or swayed by "bribery" to give up its right to nuclear technology.

He was responding to a resolution adopted last Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanding that Iran halt construction of a new uranium enrichment facility near the Shiite holy city of Qom.

The resolution was "completely political and not technical in nature," Khatami said.

Addressing the IAEA, he said "it is your obligation, under the law, to provide fuel for the Tehran reactor.

"If you did this, the issue would be closed. If you do not cooperate, you should know that the nation ... which achieved its rights to technology will also provide fuel for its reactor. It is legal."

The IAEA had brokered a plan under which Russia would lead a consortium that would enrich uranium for the Tehran reactor.

Iran rejected that proposal, which would have involved it shipping low-enriched uranium abroad and receiving a more highly enriched version in exchange.

And the agency has rebuffed a counterproposal under which an exchange would take place on Iranian soil.