Europeans Cancel Nuclear Talks With Iran
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran claimed vindication yesterday after the U.N. nuclear agency concluded that traces of highly enriched uranium found on centrifuge parts entered this country on imported equipment and did not result from Iranian enrichment activities.
Hundreds of Iranian students, meanwhile, rallied outside the British, French, and Germany embassies to protest the European call for Iran to permanently freeze uranium enrichment.
In Paris, the Foreign Ministry said those three countries would not hold nuclear talks with Iran on August 31 because of Tehran’s decision to resume operations at a uranium conversion plant.
The findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency supported Iran’s contention that traces of enriched uranium entered the country along with centrifuge parts it bought from Pakistan. The discovery of the traces in Iran had been cited by America to support its claim that Tehran has experimented with the production of highly enriched uranium, which is only used in nuclear weapons.
The deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Saeedi, said the IAEA findings vindicated Iran. “Accurate scientific investigation by the IAEA has proved that U.S. accusations were unfounded,” state-run television quoted Mr. Saeedi as saying.
About 500 students demonstrated at the British, French, and Germany embassies. They chanted “Stopping uranium conversion is treason,” and “Uranium enrichment has to begin in Natanz,” as they marched from one embassy to the next in central Tehran. The students accused the three nations of being “puppets in the hands of America,” and some demonstrators burned American and Israeli flags.
Britain, Germany, and France, which have negotiated with Iran on behalf of the European Union, have tried to persuade Iran to permanently freeze its uranium enrichment program in return for aid. Iran rejected the proposal this month, saying it didn’t recognize Tehran’s right to enrich uranium under the nonproliferation treaty.
After rejecting the E.U. proposal, Iran resumed converting uranium to gas. The IAEA has urged Iran to against suspend conversion.
