Iran Declares Its Nuclear Plan Nonnegotiable 
By Elaine Sciolino 
January 5, 2006
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/international/middleeast/05iran.html

PARIS, Jan. 4 - Iran vowed Wednesday to proceed with a plan to restart nuclear research next week, though the government has yet to explain to the United Nations' nuclear monitoring agency what activities it intends to carry out.
Ali Larijani, the senior official in charge of nuclear issues, was quoted on Iranian state television on Wednesday as saying the decision to resume nuclear research was nonnegotiable.
Responding to criticism that the decision would violate Iran's formal agreement with Europe to suspend all uranium conversion and enrichment activities, he said: Research has its own definition. It is not related to industrial production. Hence, it was never part of the negotiations.
Late Tuesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took a similar hard line. We will not take a step back on our path, he was quoted by state television as saying.
The Iranian news agency ISNA further quoted Mr. Ahmadinejad as saying Western countries are so rude that if we allow them, they will tell us to shut down all our universities, whereas research has no restrictions or red lines.
Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna in writing on Tuesday that it planned to resume nuclear fuel research and development next Monday and asked the agency to make the necessary preparations to monitor the activities.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the agency's director, pressed Iran's ambassador to the I.A.E.A., Muhammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh, for an explanation of Iran's intentions and warned him that Iran should not proceed, according to officials from two European nations briefed on the meeting.
Dr. ElBaradei told the ambassador that the decision to restart nuclear research on its fuel cycle was a regrettable development, adding that Iran must consider the potential consequences, the officials said.
The ambassador responded that Iran was not ready to provide the agency with the technical details of its decision, the officials said. The technical meeting was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, when Muhammad Saeedi, the deputy head of Iran's atomic energy agency, is expected to arrive in Vienna to lead the delegation that will clarify Iran's announcement, they added. 
The officials insisted on anonymity because their governments do not authorize them to talk on the record. I.A.E.A. officials declined to comment.
Criticism of the Iranian decision continued Wednesday. We regard the recent announcement by Iran of its intention to resume research and development activities with concern, Martin Jaeger, a spokesman for Germany's Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference in Berlin. We would encourage Iran to abstain from unilateral steps.
The French Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jean-Baptiste Mattei, told reporters that the announcement was very worrying and added, We firmly call on Iran to revoke this announcement.
On Iranian state television on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki insisted that Iran is ready for negotiations with the European Union this month.
The next round of talks is scheduled for Jan. 18. But Britain, France and Germany, the three nations that negotiated the November 2004 nuclear accord with Iran, have said Iran's decision could jeopardize talks.