Europe urges Iran to freeze nuclear plans

updated 1:47 p.m. ET June 27, 2005

TEHRAN, Iran - European negotiators urged Iran's president-elect Monday to maintain a suspension of uranium enrichment activities, a day after he vowed to restart the nation's controversial nuclear program.

Two inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, meanwhile, arrived in Iran for talks that were expected to include reports that Iran worked secretly with plutonium, a possible component of nuclear bombs.

Hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, elected by a landslide Friday, said the 20-year-old nuclear program was needed for peaceful purposes. The United States believes Tehran is seeking to develop atomic bombs.

"We need the peaceful nuclear technology for energy, medical and agricultural purposes and our scientific progress. We will continue this," Ahmadinejad said Sunday at a news conference.

Iran suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities in November to avoid possible sanctions from the U.N. Security Council, but it said all along the suspension was temporary.

Financial benefits to halting uranium enrichment
France, Britain and Germany, which are negotiating on behalf of the European Union, have offered economic incentives in hopes of persuading Iran to permanently halt enrichment. Uranium enriched to low levels has energy uses, while highly enriched uranium can be used in bombs.

In Washington, President Bush said the West should send Iran "a focused, concerted, unified message that says the development of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable and a process which would enable Iran to development a nuclear weapon is unacceptable."

He spoke after a meeting with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who said he agreed with Bush.

"We are going to continue being tough and firm on that," Schroeder said.

Ahmadinejad said Sunday that Iran's decision would not change, but he did not say when the resumption would begin.

"This is the final path we have taken," he said.

Concerning Iran's negotiations with the European nations, Ahmadinejad said he was waiting for specific offers to break the stalemate.

"We will continue talks with Europeans while preserving our national interests and insistence on the right of the Iranian nation to use nuclear energy," he said.

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