Saturday, December 4, 2004
Iran atomic freeze should last only 6 months: Cleric Reuters Tehran, December 3
Iran's suspension of key nuclear activities, part of a deal struck with London, Paris and Berlin to dispel fears Tehran is seeking nuclear arms, should last no longer than six months, a senior Iranian cleric said on Friday.
Iran has already said the suspension of its uranium enrichment-related activities should be a matter of months rather than years but influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani narrowed the suspension down to half a year.
"I do not think the ceiling of this period should be more than six months to prove to them that Iran is not seeking military applications," he told worshippers at Friday prayers.
"After that we should seriously and decisively realise our enrichment activities," he added in the sermon broadcast live on state radio.
Iran insists it has every right to lightly enrich uranium to fuel nuclear power stations such as the one it is building at Bushehr on the south coast.
However, Washington fears Iran will enrich the uranium further, to so-called weapons grade, for use in warheads.
"We agreed to suspend some of our activities for a period to ward off danger," Rafsanjani said, explaining the EU deal, reached on Monday, had warded off a referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.