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Iran says it aims to be self-sufficient in its fuel

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran has no intention of building nuclear bombs, but it will not give up its right to enrich uranium as it aims to be self-sufficient in nuclear reactor fuel.

Iran's next step will be to build nuclear power plants without help from abroad, Khamenei said Friday. Russia is currently putting the finishing touches on Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr in the south of the country.

"They [the West] speak as if Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and they oppose it. This is a propaganda trick to deceive their own public opinion," Khamenei told tens of thousands of worshippers at the Friday prayers sermon at Tehran University.

"I've said it repeatedly that we are not seeking nuclear weapons," he said in the sermon, which was broadcast live.

After his speech, about 500 worshippers demonstrated in the streets outside the university, chanting: "nuclear energy is our right!"

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, said Iran wants to enrich uranium to low levels for fuel in power-generating reactors. But the US believes Iran would also enrich uranium to the high levels suitable for building bombs.

"We want to enrich our own uranium, excavated from our own mines, with equipment and technology that belongs to ourselves, developed by our young scientists, to produce fuel for our nuclear power plants," he said.

Earlier this month, Iran rejected a package of incentives, including the purchase of nuclear fuel, that the Europeans offered in return for Iran's abandoning enrichment.

"They [the Europeans] say purchase [nuclear fuel] from us. That means dependency," Khamenei said. He added the European proposals for Iran to import fuel and abandon enrichment were tantamount to "coercion."

He reminded the audience that enrichment for peaceful purposes was one of Iran's rights as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

"We don't fear anybody. We have the necessary might and means to defend our rights, and we won't give up our rights," Khamenei said, drawing shouts of "never, never!" from the worshippers.

Iran's nuclear program is a source of national pride. Foreign attempts to curb the program are routinely met with criticism and anger. Iran suspended enrichment in 2003 and expanded the suspension last November to include uranium reprocessing activities and building the centrifuges that are used to enrich uranium. The moves were made to avoid referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions and to build trust in the negotiations with Europe.

Last week, after the talks with Europeans failed to make progress, Iran resumed uranium reprocessing activities at its Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan.

Iran called last week for negotiations with the Europeans on its plans to resume actual enrichment, which would involve injecting uranium gas into centrifuges. It said the reaction of the EU would heavily influence the timing of when it restarts enrichment.
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