'No retreat' in Iran's nuclear ambitions

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told a rally in his country that he would "not retreat even one iota" in his nuclear ambitions.It comes as reports suggest Iran and the European Union are to hold talks about Tehran's disputed nuclear ambitions in London on November 30.The outcome of such a meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, if confirmed, could help determine whether Iran will face new sanctions over its nuclear defiance.The US accuses Iran of seeking to build atomic bombs and says that if it succeeds it could threaten world peace. Iran says its programme is peaceful and has consistently refused to listen to UN demands to halt its sensitive nuclear work.Mr Solana is due to report on Iran's readiness or otherwise to suspend uranium enrichment and enter into negotiations on its nuclear programme before major powers take a decision on whether to impose further punitive measures on the Islamic Republic.The UN Security Council has passed two mild sanctions resolutions against Tehran since December. The US is now pushing for broader UN measures but Russia and China have so far been reluctant.Javad Vaeedi, Mr Jalili's deputy, said he had agreed the meeting in a telephone conversation with one of Mr Solana's aides.In what analysts said signalled a hardening of Iran's position on the nuclear issue, Mr Jalili replaced Ali Larijani as chief nuclear negotiator in October.Washington says it is committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row, but has not ruled out military action if that fails.Iran says it wants only to generate electricity so that the world's fourth-largest crude producer can export more oil.The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that Iran had made important strides towards clarifying past nuclear work, as part of an August deal between the two sides.But it also said key questions remained unresolved and that Iran had significantly expanded uranium enrichment. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for power plants but also, if refined much further, provide material for bombs.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

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ITN | November 21, 2007

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