Iran on Tuesday refused to suspend uranium enrichment and asked the European Union (EU) to take confidence-building moves.

"Iran cannot be forced to discontinue enrichment process and the country will never ignore enrichment activities," Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told the official news agency Irna.

Kharrazi referred to a resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month, which urged Iran to suspend all of the activities related to uranium enrichment.
 
However, Kharrazi said the suspension of uranium enrichment still continues but stressed that confidence-building should be bilateral.

"The two sides (Iran and the EU) should undertake their commitments. Whenever one side refused to fulfill its commitment, problems would naturally arise," Kharrazi said.

"We suspended parts manufacturing voluntarily and there was no need for us to continue this because they did not keep their promises," Kharrazi added, referring to the resumption of the manufacturing of centrifuge parts.

Kharrazi also asked the European side to take steps to build confidence.

"It is time for Europe to take its move. Europe should take steps toward confidence-building through proposals that ensure our legal rights to make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Kharrazi underlined.

The foreign minister further said Iran was ready to assure the international community of its purpose on nuclear program.

"Necessary assurance should be provided that Iran has never thought and will never think of nuclear weapons proliferation in its nuclear programs," he said.

"We intend to reach a consensus through dialogue and build necessary confidence and hope Iran's nuclear case in the IAEA would be closed in the earliest time through settlement of minor remaining issues," Kharrazi concluded.

Iran, accused of developing nuclear weapons by the US, suspended uranium enrichment last year after negotiations with the three European countries of France, Germany and the UK.

It further froze centrifuge assembly in February for "confidence building", expecting an early close of its nuclear casein the IAEA.

But the Islamic Republic was frustrated at the IAEA's June and September meetings. As a result, it resumed centrifuge manufacturing and threatened to discontinue the suspension of uranium enrichment.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2004)