UN Issues Ultimatum, Iran Offers "Regional Consortium"

"We will not, definitely, suspend again the enrichment," Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Aliasghar Soltaniyeh, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The Security Council on Wednesday, March29 , unanimously approved a statement giving Tehran 30 days to abandon its uranium enrichment activities.

The non-binding text asked IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to report back in30 days on Iranian compliance with the steps required by the IAEA board.

But the watered-down statement, drafted by Britain and France, did not outline steps the Security Council, the UN's executive arm, might take if Tehran fails to comply.

The Bush administration has been spearheading a campaign against Tehran over its nuclear program, which Tehran maintains is only for generating electricity.

Consortium

Iran, meanwhile, formally offered Thursday to set up a "regional consortium" to enrich fuel for its nuclear program, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"One possibility to resolve the issue could be the establishment of a regional consortium on fuel cycle development," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the UN Conference on Disarmament.

He said the center, likely to be based in Iran, could involve "regional countries which have already developed fuel cycle programs at the national level and intend to develop further their program for civilian purposes."

The top diplomat added that countries outside the region "may also participate in such regional arrangements based on the modalities agreed between the parties."

He did not name any countries or add details.

Mottaki gave overt support to efforts to seek overall nuclear disarmament on a "multilateral" basis and insisted on Iran's rights to develop nuclear energy under the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and has never diverted towards prohibited activities."

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