From Reuters, “Iran Says Will Restart Enrichment if Talks Fail”
THE HAGUE – Iran will restart its uranium enrichment program if talks with European Union heavyweights France, Britain and Germany fail on Friday, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Thursday.
“If there is no agreement and negotiations collapse, there is no choice but to restart the program,” Kharrazi told reporters in The Hague after talks with his Dutch counterpart Bernard Bot.
Iran is due to hold talks in London on Friday with Britain, France and Germany, who want Iran to give up uranium enrichment in return for incentives such as trade deals…
“Iranian people fear a delay. They believe it is their inalienable right to have access to this technology for peaceful purposes,” Kharrazi said.
In a related story from Reuters, “Putin Hardens Line on Iranian Nuclear Program”
JERUSALEM – Russian President Vladimir Putin, hardening his line toward Iran’s nuclear program, said on Thursday Tehran needed to do more to assure the world it was not trying to build atomic weapons.
Putin, at a news conference in Jerusalem, said Tehran’s agreement to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia — which agreed to supply the material to Iran’s Bushehr plant — “does not seem to be enough.”
He said that in addition, the Iranians should “abandon all technology to create a full nuclear cycle and also not obstruct their nuclear sites from international control.”…