The authorities have repeatedly said that Iran is determined to pursue its nuclear energy program despite its vast oil reserves. The supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on policy, emphasized in a meeting with Iranian ambassadors last month that Iran would not give up its nuclear technology under pressure.
However, during a recent visit to Iran, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, warned that refusing to sign the program would bring negative results for Iran and that Iran should not expect any rewards for signing. Muhammad Hussein Khoshroo, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, told parliament on Wednesday that Solana had demanded in private meetings that Iran abandon all nuclear activities.
Under international pressure, Russia recently delayed signing an agreement with Iran to complete a nuclear reactor.
Iran has allowed the international agency's inspectors to visit all its nuclear sites five times since June and to take environmental samples. It has also provided some data requested by the agency, but diplomats who have been pressing Iran on the issue say it must go beyond that and sign the protocol.
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