Iran rejected a resolution from the
United Nations nuclear watchdog agency urging it to freeze a
uranium processing program, and vowed to become a nuclear fuel
exporter within the next decade.
The resolution ``is a vote of no-confidence in the agency,''
said the Middle Eastern country's chief delegate to the
International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Cyrus Nasseri, at a
press conference today in Vienna. ``It is absurd.''
The IAEA's 35-member board of governors earlier passed a
resolution drafted by European diplomats criticizing Iran's
resumption of uranium processing and calling on the Islamic
government to freeze its nuclear fuel program. The U.S. and its
European allies want to stop Iran from pursuing research efforts
that may lead to the building of a nuclear weapon.
The resolution ``expresses serious concern'' and ``urges Iran
to re-establish full suspension of all enrichment related
activities'' and allow the IAEA to put back seals on equipment at
a plant in central Iran, according to the text. It asked IAEA
Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to report on Iran's compliance
by Sept. 3. French, German and U.K. diplomats wrote the measure.

`Dangerous Course'

The document ``shows that the international community is
united in determining that Iran move off the dangerous course that
it is on,'' said the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, Greg Schulte.
Iran implemented a voluntary freeze on its uranium processing
in November. The IAEA asked it to suspend developing the nuclear
fuel cycle in order to ``build confidence'' among member states
that its program was for peaceful purposes only. Iran has in the
past given false information to UN inspectors about its atomic
program.
Iranian officials yesterday removed UN seals on equipment
used in uranium enrichment at a facility in Isfahan. Isfahan is
the site of Iran's largest nuclear research center, employing as
many as 3,000 scientists, and may be the primary location of
Iran's nuclear weapons program, according to the Web site of the
defense research organization GlobalSecurity.org.
U.S. opposition to Iran's program is driven by concerns that
nuclear materials might be handed to terrorist groups. The Bush
administration has maintained its support for negotiations as a
way to solve the dispute, and President George W. Bush this week
welcomed plans from Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to
offer new ideas in that framework.

Ahmadinejad's Visa

Bush said today he expects the U.S. to issue a visa to
Ahmadinejad to allow him to attend the UN General Assembly in New
York in September. The Iranian leader plans to address the UN
Millennium Summit and the General Assembly.
Bush said the U.S. is ``still investigating allegations''
that Ahmadinejad was involved in the 1979 seizure of U.S. hostages
in Tehran, a charge Iran has denied. Morteza Ramandi, spokesman
for Iran's mission to the UN, said yesterday that Ahmadinejad
applied for a visa, is awaiting a response and that Iran is not
aware of any problem.
The three European allies of the U.S. have been conducting
negotiations with Iran on limiting its enrichment program, a
process that produces the material to fuel a nuclear power plant
or bomb. The U.S. government, which has no formal diplomatic ties
with Iran, hasn't officially joined the talks.

Fuel Plans

Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, will develop its nuclear fuel
capability for future exports, Nasseri said. The country will
continue converting raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas at
its Isfahan plant, Nasseri said. Iran will keep its enrichment
facility in Natanz, south of Tehran, closed for now, he said.
``We like to be a supplier of energy as we are in oil and gas
as well,'' Nasseri said.
ElBaradei confirmed that Isfahan was under agency observation
with inspectors on the ground. The plant, located in central Iran,
isn't capable of enriching uranium, according to the IAEA.
``Whether Iran resumes full suspension is up to Iran to
decide,'' said ElBaradei, a 63-year-old former Egyptian diplomat.
``There's a window of opportunity to regulate the situation.''
The IAEA resolution also urged Iran to continue negotiating
with the EU-3 to overcome the current impasse. The director
general was ``encouraged by statements'' that talks would
continue.

`Not Iraq'

The Iranian delegation's statement delivered to the IAEA's
board of governors singled out the U.S. for its fiercest
criticism. Iran highlighted the U.S.'s unproven allegation of a
functioning nuclear weapons program in Iraq and its decision to
invade the country in March 2003. The delegates said that the U.S.
was using the same tactics against Iran.
``Iran is not Iraq, and the United States is not the self-
appointed policeman of the world anymore,'' the two-page statement
said.
Energy needs in Iran are expected to double in the next 20
years to about 60,000 megawatts annually. The government said it
wants to generate about 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power for the
country's 68 million people by 2025, Nasseri said.