Iran refuses to negotiate on nuclear work

IRAN: Iran's hardline government insisted its uranium enrichment programme was not up for negotiation, again rejecting European efforts to secure a halt to the sensitive nuclear work despite international calls for dialogue.

Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham also promised the Islamic regime would continue to work towards reaching an industrial-scale capacity in enrichment, a process which can be extended to make nuclear weapons.

"The right to enrichment within the framework of the NPT and under the surveillance of the IAEA is an absolute right," he told reporters.

Iran says it wants to make only civilian reactor fuel, a right enshrined by the Non-Proliferation Treaty and overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"This right and its implementation must be guaranteed. This is not something on which we can back down, whether for research or industrial purposes. This is not something on which we can negotiate or back down," Elham said.

"Nuclear technology is a right that nobody can challenge, and all Iranians are unanimous in claiming this right."

Meanwhile The United Arab Emirates said Gulf countries planned to hold talks with Iran over concerns that Tehran's nuclear programme could pose an environmental threat to them.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan raised the environmental issue at a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who echoed long-held Western fears Iran was secretly trying to build nuclear weapons.

Unlike Iran, Arab states in the region rely on sea water desalination plants for drinking water. The desert Arabian Peninsula has no rivers and limited underground water resources.

"If this Gulf is polluted in any way from their nuclear programme it will affect life and the life style of the people in this region," said Abdullah.

He said a delegation from the U.S.-allied Gulf Cooperation Council - a political and economic alliance comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - would visit Tehran but did not give a date.

Tehran, Abu Dhabi, Tuesday, AFP, Reuters.