Iran refuses to give up on producing enriched uranium

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran refuses to give up on producing its own enriched uranium for civilian use despite international pressure, according to a senior official in charge of the nuclear file.
"We must be able to produce some of our fuel in Iran itself but that does not mean we are turning down fuel offered by the European countries or even the United States," Hossein Mussavian said Wednesday.
"The European and G8 countries are saying that the production of nuclear fuel in Iran itself is not economical for us. We reject that argument," said the official.
"We will be obliged to buy some of our fuel from abroad but the production in Iran of fuel is much more economical," he said.
"We are insisting on our legitimate right to enrich uranium while the Europeans are saying they will provide us both with the fuel and the nuclear plants because, they say, we would be able to enrich uranium to build a bomb.
"This is totally unacceptable," said Mussavian.