Iran prepares itself for souring ties with IAEA

"We are entering into a second phase which is the challenge posed by enrichment," Seyed Hossein Mussavian, a member of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told the student news agency ISNA.

He said this new phase in ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was "more difficult" because "the Americans and the Europeans are on the same side".

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"The Europeans are saying that in order to be sure that nuclear fuel is not used to produce nuclear weapons, Iran must renounce enrichment.

"But Iran considers enrichment to be an absolute right in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Iran is not ready to renounce this," he said.