TEHRAN, Feb 18 – A senior Iranian lawmaker said the Islamic republic will never shut down its underground bunker of Fordow uranium enrichment facilities and will not halt its “peaceful” nuclear activities, Xinhua news agency reported.
Alluding to recent media reports about certain world powers’ decision to ease gold sanctions on Iran in exchange for the closure of Fordow, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iran’s parliament National Security and Foreign Policy
Commission, said “Fordow site will never be shut down.”
Western media reported Saturday that the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, US, and Germany) are working on a proposal to be offered in the nuclear talks with Iran to ease sanctions on gold and trading of other precious metals with Iran in return for shutting down the Fordow plant. According to reports, the offer will be presented in the upcoming talks between Iran and the P5+1 slated for Feb 26 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Boroujerdi said Iran has built the Fordow site to “defend its nuclear facilities in the face threats from Israel.”
The Fordow nuclear plant, located near the Iranian central Shiite holy city of Qom, is used for producing enriched uranium with a purity of up to 20 percent.
“Iran will continue developing its peaceful nuclear energy programme based on regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and within the framework of peaceful objectives,” Boroujerdi was quoted as saying. Another Iranian lawmaker, Ebrahim Aqa-Mohammadi, said the US must renounce its policy of “threats and sanctions” against Iran before Tehran considers entering talks with Washington, local media said Sunday.
“The US must give up its threats and sanctions before announcing it would hold negotiations with Iran under equal footing and based on international laws,” said Aqa-Mohammadi, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.
BERNAMA
