Defiant Iran tells UN: mind your own nuclear business

"State terrorism is being supported by those who claim to fight terrorism," President Ahmadinejad insisted to an audience that included a stone-faced British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. He vehemently defended Iran's right to continue developing its nuclear capacity, insisting it is for energy generation only.

In spite of an offer in the speech to open his industry to joint ventures with outside parties, the belligerence of the speech will do little to defuse the growing diplomatic crisis over Tehran's nuclear intentions. Diplomats in New York concede that worries about Iran's obduracy in the face of appeals to suspend its nuclear activities dominated discussions between world leaders at last week's UN summit.

Britain and the United States are pressing Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment activities and re-engage in negotiations with the so-called EU3 - Britain, France and Germany. Washington firmly believes that Iran is investigating diverting its civilian nuclear technology into developing nuclear weapons. Mr Ahmadinejad angrily denied this yesterday, insisting that it was against Iran's religious faith.

Also addressing the UN yesterday, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, demanded that Iran return to the negotiating table with the Europeans. "Questions about Iran's nuclear activities remain unanswered despite repeated efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency and after agreeing to negotiate with the European Union," the she declared. "Iran should return to negotiations with the EU and abandon for ever its plans for a nuclear weapons capability."

The stand-off with Iran will top the agenda at a meeting of the IAEA in Vienna tomorrow. While the IAEA will debate referring the issue to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions against Iran, it seems unlikely such a step will be taken for some time.

There was an ominous warning from President Ahmadinejad that any attempt to take the matter to the Security Council would lead to a change of position on his part. "If some try to impose their will on the Iranian people through resort to a language of force and threat with Iran, we will reconsider our entire approach," he said.

It remains to be seen how seriously Western governments will take the offer of joint ventures in Iran's nuclear programme. The President said Iran "is prepared to engage in serious partnership with private and public sectors of other countries in the implementation of uranium enrichment programme in Iran. This represents the most far-reaching step ... being proposed by Iran."

While never mentioning the US or Britain by name, President Ahmadinejad was scorching in his criticisms, repeatedly accusing them of failing to honour their side of the bargain in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by dismantling their own nuclear weapons capacities.

"Those hegemonic powers, who consider scientific and technological progress of independent and free nations as a challenge to their monopoly on these instruments of power ... have misrepresented Iran's healthy and fully safeguarded technological endeavours in the nuclear field as pursuit of nuclear weapons," he said. "This is nothing but a propaganda ploy."

Earlier Mr Straw, in his address to the General Assembly, reminded Iran that the EU continued to offer co-operation and support to the country if it halts it nuclear activities and clarifies its nuclear plans. "We have made detailed proposals for a new relationship based on co-operation and respect for international norms and treaties," he said. "These proposals envisage a high-level, long-term political and security framework between the European Union and Iran ... in return for Iran providing guarantees about its intentions."

While the US has made plain its preference that Iran be referred by the IAEA board tomorrow to theSecurity Council, it seems unlikely to happen because of resistance from countries such as China and Russia.