VIENNA, February 3 (RIA Novosti) - Tehran will reject Russia's proposal to set up a joint venture on its territory to enrich uranium for Iran if the UN's nuclear watchdog adopts a draft resolution to refer Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council, an Iranian diplomat said Friday.
Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of the Iranian delegation to the emergency session of the International Atomic Energy Agency under way in Vienna, accused the United States of insisting on the adoption of the document.
"The U.S. wants to kill two birds with one stone, that is to upset diplomatic efforts and to block the Russian proposal," Vaeedi said warning the U.S. against making a "historic mistake."
At the same time, Vaeedi stressed that Iran was still open to holding talks. "It is necessary to give diplomacy a chance," he added.
The diplomat said Iran's position was guided by the decisions of its parliament. "As in any other democratic country, the Iranian government must consider the will of parliament," he said.
The Russian offer to enrich Iranian fuel has been seen as a compromise in the standoff between the Islamic Republic and the West over its nuclear programs after Tehran caused widespread international concern with a recent announcement that it had abandoned a two-year moratorium on uranium enrichment research. The proposal potentially removes the need for Iran to pursue controversial research that could also give it the technology to build nuclear weapons.
Some countries, led by the U.S., suspect Tehran of pursuing a secret weapons program and have been pushing the referral of the Iranian nuclear file to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic if it is found to have been in breach of its international commitments. Iran has consistently stated that it only wants nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but the IAEA looks increasingly likely to refer the matter to New York.
