Iran's nuclear decision undermines credibility, EU's Ashton says

Feb 9, 2010, 19:12 GMT

Brussels - Iran's decision to start enriching uranium to an unprecedented level of 20 per cent undermines the regime's credibility and could lead to sanctions, the European Union's foreign-policy director warned Tuesday.

A week ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he was ready to accept an international fuel swap so his country would not have to enrich uranium itself. But on Sunday he gave the order to start enriching fuel to a higher level.

'Taking enrichment to the level of 20 per cent adds to the deficit of confidence in the nature of Iran's nuclear programme. This has already been aggravated by Iran's unwillingness to engage in meaningful talks,' Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

Uranium enriched to 20 per cent would not be enough to make a nuclear bomb, but Western powers fear that Iran's long-term goal is to develop atomic weapons.

Ashton pointed out that the 20-per-cent enriched uranium would not be rich enough to power the Tehran medical reactor which Iran says is the recipient of its homemade fuel, and said that EU states 'do not believe that Iran has either the technical knowledge or the intellectual property rights' to go further yet.

'We continue to find it difficult to understand why Iran has not taken up the proposed (fuel swap) agreement ... which would have solved all these problems,' she said.

The EU is ready to consider further sanctions if the United Nations Security Council calls for them, she said.