Tuesday, May 23 2006 11:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Tehran: Iran's hardline Government insisted yesterday (May 22, 2006) 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," he said.

Britain, France and Germany are putting together a package of trade and technology incentives they hope will persuade Iran to halt fuel cycle work, which Washington and its allies say hides an effort to build a nuclear bomb.