Iran Nuke Plans On Hold, For Now

Iran agreed late Monday to a two-day delay in reopening a nuclear processing plant after receiving a request from the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency.

Mohammed ElBaradei asked Tehran for a "maximum of two days" to send its inspectors to Iran's nuclear facility where they can oversee the dismantling of U.N. seals, said Ali Agha Mohammadi, spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Earlier, Mohammadi said Iranian technicians would break the seals and restart nuclear processing on Monday.

Mohammadi said the combination of restraint and resolve toward restarting uranium processing showed the government's intention not to squander Iran's fundamental right to nuclear power, while preserving close ties to Europe.

"Our people were worried that the government may have done a deal with the Europeans and given up the rights of the nation," Mohammadi said. "We will do the rest of the work in coordination with the Europeans."

Earlier in the day, ElBaradei warned Iran "not to take any action that might prejudice the process at this critical stage."

EU negotiators have said they are mere days from delivering a package of incentives addressing security and political, economic and nuclear issues.

"I also call on Iran not to take any unilateral action that could undermine the agency inspection process at a time when the agency is making steady progress in resolving outstanding issues," ElBaradei said.

The removal of the United Nations seals is the first step toward restarting the central Iran facility, Mohammadi said in a report from the official IRNA news agency.

Reprocessing uranium is a step below uranium enrichment, which is to remain suspended, said Mohammadi. The United States claims the Iranian nuclear program is designed to produce weapons, a claim Iran denies. Iran maintains it suspension of uranium enrichment last November was voluntary and that it had the right to resume the activities at any time.

Iran's apparent decision to call off its nuclear freeze had sparked an immediate warning from the European Union, which said any move to restart enrichment would damage EU-Iran trade talks.

"We expect Iran to live up to the commitment of the Paris agreement" of nuclear talks with the EU, said European Commission spokesman Stefaan De Rynck.

Earlier Monday, Iran's parliamentary speaker said Tehran was giving European negotiators until 5 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) to submit an incentives package to Iran before it would announce any such resumption.

But Iran's apparent decision to restart reprocessing appeared to override the deadline.

The move could trigger calls from European and American officials to haul Iran before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

European diplomats said Sunday that if Isfahan were restarted, an emergency IAEA board meeting would be called to set a deadline for the Iranians to "see the error of their ways" and stop their enrichment activities.

If such a deadline were not met, a Security Council referral was a likely next step, the officials said.

Iranian leaders have signaled an intensifying impatience with the slow pace of negotiations with Europe, and an incoming conservative administration in Tehran has showed signs of wanting to harden the country's stance.

Iran was particularly annoyed that Germany, France and Britain called for a delay until Aug. 7 in presenting a new offer meant to sway Tehran away from its enrichment program.

The three European countries, which have been leading U.S.-backed EU negotiations, said on Monday that European negotiators plan to submit their proposal for Iran's atomic program "in a few days."

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said the deadline for their proposal, aimed at persuading Iran to permanently freeze parts of its contentious nuclear program, particularly uranium enrichment, had never been more specific than "the end of July, early August."

Earlier Monday, Iran's parliamentary speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel said his country did not want to end dialogue with Europe.

"We are willing to continue dialogue with them after we resume part of our nuclear activities," he said. "Iran will not give in to any further waste of time."

On Sunday, an official from the U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna said the Europeans would present their proposal to Iran next week.

The proposal, which still being finished, is a "generous" offer, including nuclear fuel, technology, other aid and "security guarantees" that Iran won't be invaded if it permanently halts uranium enrichment and related activities, European and Iranian officials confirmed.