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Iran refuses fresh calls to halt uranium enrichment+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TEHRAN, April 13_(Kyodo) _ Iran is committed to its undertakings and cannot accept calls to halt enrichment of uranium, Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said Thursday. Larijani made the remarks when he met with reporters after his meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who was visiting Tehran for talks with Iranian officials on the nuclear issue. ElBaradei also met with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization chief Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh. Iran is not likely to comply with the presidential statement issued March 29 by the U.N. Security Council that called on Tehran to halt its nuclear activities within 30 days. Also on Thursday, ElBaradei said he could not yet confirm if Iran enriched uranium to 3.5 percent as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday. "Our inspectors have taken samples. They will report to the (IAEA) board," ElBaradei said. According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, the Iranian president gave a talk at a university in the northeastern city of Mashad on Wednesday. During the talk, the president said Iran is conducting experiments with the advanced P2 centrifuge, which has four times the capacity to enrich uranium than a centrifuge in the central city of Natanz. ElBaradei told reporters after arriving at Tehran airport that he would press Iranian authorities to implement "confidence-building measures, including suspension of uranium enrichment." Iran had hoped that ElBaradei would allow Iran to enrich uranium on a small scale at its Natanz facility, which it says is for research purposes, in return for voluntarily resuming cooperation with the IAEA's spot inspections. Meanwhile, China said Thursday that it will send Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai to Iran and Russia from Friday as special envoy on the nuclear issue. |