Tehran: A defiant Iran on Tuesday resumed sensitive nuclear research after a two-year suspension despite warnings from the West of possible UN sanctions.
"Today, with the authoritisation given by the IAEA to its inspectors (to supervise the action)... seals from a number of research centres were removed," said Mohammad Saidi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"As of today, these centres resume their activities," Saidi told reporters. "The research will be carried out in all the centres that we told the IAEA about, and we will restart our work."
In Vienna, the IAEA confirmed that Iran removed seals at its Natanz atomic research facility under the supervision of its inspectors.
"The production of nuclear fuel is still in suspension and we hope to reach a conclusion over it in the near future, and also reach a clear agreement with the Europeans in this regard," Saidi said.
Tehran announced last week it would restart research into the nuclear fuel cycle despite international calls to keep the voluntary suspension of such work in place.
The United States, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build nuclear weapons, reiterated on Monday that Iran may be referred to the UN Security Council over its action. But Russia said dialogue was still the only way forward.
And on Tuesday, Moscow said its offer to enrich uranium jointly with Iran at a site on Russian territory remained valid. Talks on the compromise proposal are due to resume next month after breaking off at the weekend without agreement.
"We confirmed our proposal,it remains on the negotiating table, and if our Iranian colleagues are interested we are ready to develop a joint plan to resolve the entire Iranian energy issue," deputy foreign minister Sergei Kislyak told Interfax news agency.
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