Iran insists it will make fuel despite UN threat

Tehran: Iran underscored yesterday its determination to produce nuclear fuel just four days before a UN Security Council deadline to freeze the sensitive work or face the risk of sanctions.

And in a show of its military might, Iran test-fired a long range radar-evading sea-to-air missile during war games it says aim to demonstrate its readiness for "any threat." But Tehran said it remained keen to hold talks on Western concerns about its nuclear programme and revealed that UN chief Kofi Annan was due in Tehran on Saturday, two days after the deadline.

"Production of nuclear fuel is one of Iran's strategic objectives," lead negotiator Ali Larijani told state radio. "Any action to limit or deprive Iran could not force Iran to give up this goal."

The Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities by August 31.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Bagheri insisted during a visit to key regional ally Syria that a formal moratorium on enrichment was out of the question.

"While cooperating with international institutions, we consider the suspension of enrichment as our red line," Bagheri was quoted as saying in Damascus by Iran's official news agency Irna.

"We insist on our right because we want to utilise nuclear technology for peaceful ends," he added.

Meanwhile, Italy said it wants to join nuclear negotiations with Iran, currently being led by the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany. In an interview published yesterday Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Italy has strong interests in the region and Iran talks fitted neatly into its deepening diplomatic role in the region.