TEHRAN, August 3 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - Iranian Interior Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi has asked the "EU troika" (Britain, France, and Germany) to avoid using "threatening language."
"Judging by the EU's reaction to Iran's decision to renew work on the Isfahan uranium conversion plant, the time seems to have come for threats and demands devoid of sense," Asefi said. "Threats are not a solution to the Iranian nuclear program."
"Instead of using threatening language, the 'EU troika' should fulfill the obligations they have taken upon themselves, and we will provide an objective guarantee of the peaceful nature of Iranian nuclear technology."
"Iran has been carrying out all its work in this area under the observation of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] and respects international agreements and obligations, but will not back down from its legal right to develop peaceful nuclear technology," he said.
Asefi's announcement follows a letter from the foreign ministries of the "EU troika" sent to the Iranian leadership. In the letter, the EU countries urged Tehran to back down from its plans to re-start uranium enrichment processing at the Isfahan plant.
The day before the announcement, Iran had been ready to remove the IAEA's seals from equipment at the nuclear plant but put off its decision following a request from IAEA General Director Mohamed ElBaradei.
