Iran's President Mohammad
Khatami indicated on Sunday Tehran may halt uranium enrichment, which some
Western governments say could be used to make atomic bombs, if it is allowed to
keep its civilian atomic energy program.
Asked by reporters if Iran was prepared to stop enriching uranium as the
United States and several European countries have demanded, Khatami said: "We
will do whatever is necessary to solve the problems and in return we're
expecting our rights to be preserved which is (the right) to have nuclear
technology."
It was the first indication from a top Iranian official that Iran could
mothball uranium enrichment facilities which it began building in 1985.
Iranian officials had previously insisted they had every right to continue
enriching uranium to use in nuclear reactors.
Asked if Iran was prepared to meet the demands for tougher inspections and a
halt to uranium enrichment, Khatami said:
"We will do what is expedient for society and the nation. We have done our
best for talks and exchanging views and we hope it will produce a result."
Iranian officials have said the foreign ministers of Britain, France and
Germany will visit Tehran this week to discuss a proposal to resolve Iran's
nuclear standoff before a looming October 31 U.N. deadline for Tehran to prove
it has no atomic arms ambitions.
The three countries wrote to Tehran a few weeks ago offering Iran the
prospect of sharing technology if it stops its nuclear fuel enrichment program
and accepts tougher inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said on Sunday that Iran
has invited the three ministers to visit Tehran for talks on the Additional
Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which would allow snap
inspections of its nuclear sites.
"Given that the German, French and British foreign ministers had in a letter
voiced willingness to cooperate with Iran, we proposed initiating a constructive
dialogue with Europe," the official IRNA news agency quoted Asefi as saying.
Asefi said the exact date for the ministers' visit had not yet been set but
added that "If things go well, the date for the visit of the ministers will be
very close."
FORCE MIGHT BE NEEDED
Last year, President Bush named Iran as a member of the "axis of evil" along
with Iraq and North Korea. Bush went to war with Iraq over weapons of mass
destruction earlier this year and is in a diplomatic standoff with North Korea
over its weapons programs.
He made Iran a top post-Iraq priority, urging the international community to
make clear "we will not tolerate" construction of a nuclear weapon by Iran.
The European Union agreed that force might be needed if diplomacy failed and
joined Washington in demanding Tehran accept tougher inspections by the IAEA.
Khatami said on Friday his country had no plans to build nuclear weapons and
predicted that it would reach an agreement on its nuclear program with the U.N.
atomic watchdog.
Iran and the IAEA began formal talks on tougher inspections on Saturday.
"The IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has given us the necessary assurances that
neither the text of the Additional Protocol nor its implementation will cause
any worries for Iran," Asefi said.
U.N. inspectors have found enriched uranium, which can be used to make atomic
weapons, at two Iranian facilities this year. Iran blames this on contamination
from machinery it bought abroad on the black market.
