VIENNA: Iran will not give up its nuclear rights, despite being given just "weeks" by world powers to suspend uranium enrichment or face the consequences, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.
"Pressure by certain Western countries aiming to make us abandon our nuclear rights will not show results," Ahmadinejad said on Friday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
He was responding to a joint initiative announced the previous day by the foreign ministers of the five permanent UN Security Council members, plus Germany, who offered Tehran a package of benefits if it suspends sensitive nuclear fuel work.
But the offer, issued after intense talks here, came conditioned with a threat of penalties, including UN sanctions, if Tehran refuses to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that Iran had only weeks to respond to the proposal of trade, security and technology incentives if Iran suspends uranium enrichment.
"There is no kind of ultimatum deadline, although I think we are talking about several weeks," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The foreign minister also refused to be drawn on what measures might be taken if Iran refused the international community's proposals.
"At the moment we won't guess because such guesses pour oil on the fire of emotional discussions and give a reason for those who want to destroy the possibility of a negotiated resolution," he was quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.
