washingtonpost.com
Iran
Warns G8 It Will Not Halt Nuclear Program
Reuters
Thursday, June 10, 2004; 7:39 AM
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran warned the Group of Eight on Thursday it had
no intention of halting its nuclear program despite criticism by G8
leaders of Tehran's cooperation with the United Nations's nuclear
watchdog."Using peaceful nuclear energy is Iran's natural right
and...G8 countries should not expect Iran to abandon this right,"
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement carried
by state media.G8 leaders from the United States, Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia issued a statement on Wednesday
accusing Iran of dragging its feet on full disclosure of its nuclear
activities."We deplore Iran's delays, deficiencies in cooperation
and inadequate disclosures," the statement said.Iran strongly
denies Washington's assertion that it is building a secret nuclear arms
capability. Tehran says its nuclear program will be used exclusively to
generate electricity.Asefi described the G8 statement as "illogical.""Iran
has shown its full commitment to the non-proliferation of atomic weapons
in practice and its wide and transparent cooperation with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is proof of that," Asefi
said.IAEA governing board members are due to discuss Iran's nuclear
program next week based on an IAEA report which, while praising Tehran's
increased cooperation, said it could still not confirm Iran's nuclear
aims were entirely peaceful.Asefi said G8 nations, instead of putting
pressure on Iran, should provide technology and equipment to help it
finish its nuclear program.