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Iranian Nuclear File Chief Says Research "Not Negotiable"

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 January 2006, 06:00 CST

Text of report by Iranian TV news channel on 4 January

[Presenter] The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council has said: Iran's research into nuclear fuel technology will resume in the next few days and the issue is not negotiable. Dr Larijani added: There is no reason why we should deprive our scientists of scientific research.

[Reporter] Iran announced in a letter to the IAEA that it is to begin research into nuclear fuel research. Could you please tell us why Iran is going to do such a thing in these circumstance.

[Larijani] First tell me why you're asking me questions like this in the middle of the night. [Laughter] The issue of research - we'd said previously that research is not one of the subjects included in negotiations and so on. And since their [West's] main point was that we are worried about Iran's deviation in the production of enrichment - [corrects himself] production of fuel - research has its own definition; it is not related to industrial production. Hence, it was never part of the negotiations.

[Presenter] The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council also referred to Iran's nuclear talks with Europe in the near future and said: We are not pessimistic about talks but, at the same time, we warn the Europeans not to be rapacious.

Iran voluntarily suspended research into nuclear fuel technology two and a half years ago, at the same time as it suspended activities relating to the production of nuclear fuel.

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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