Crisis looms as Iran defies EU warning

Iran's new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leaves the tribune after swearing-in at parliament in Tehran yesterday. Ahmadinejad said Iran would respect international regulations but would not accept "submission" to any other nation. PHOTO: AFP

"Why is it that some countries don't understand that the Iranian nation won't accept tyranny?" Ahmadinejad asked after Iran rejected as "unacceptable" an EU package of incentives aimed at convincing Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The offer, made to Iran on Friday by the European Union and backed by the United States, would allow the Islamic republic to pursue peaceful nuclear energy activities as long as it refrains from fuel-cycle work that could help it make atomic weapons.

The Iranians were told they had no choice but to call for a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation board of governors -- a move that could send Iran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

But foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said: "The European proposals are unacceptable to the Islamic Republic of Iran, they provide no guarantees for Iran's interests and are contrary to the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Paris agreement."

He was referring to a November deal with the EU under which Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and conversion for the duration of talks with the bloc.

"We will give our full response to these proposals today or tomorrow, but we can say right away that the Europeans have failed to honour their undertakings," Asefi told state media after Ahmadinejad took the oath of office before parliament on Saturday.

The UN nuclear watchdog said meanwhile an inspection team was set to leave for Iran to install cameras to monitor the Isfahan uranium conversion plant that Tehran wants to restart.

"A safeguards team is travelling in the next couple of days to deliver and install remote camera equipment and an inspection system will be in place in the middle of next week," an IAEA spokeswoman in Vienna said.

The indication that British, French and German foreign ministers told Iran it could be referred to the IAEA's board was seen in a summary of the 34-page package made available to reporters on Friday.

In an apparent compromise with its European allies, the United States backed the bloc's proposal which covers nuclear issues, political and security concerns and offers economic and technological cooperation.

The package of incentives was presented to Iran after nine months of tortuous negotiations between the so-called EU-3 and Iran, which in November agreed to suspend both uranium enrichment and the precursor process of conversion.

The EU said it reaffirmed "Iran's inalienable rights to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, exercised in conformity with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty" but also demanded it drop sensitive fuel-cycle activities.