President of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi waits for the start of a press conference in Madrid, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007 (photo credit: AP/Sergio Barrenechea)
Iran will not suspend its uranium enrichment nor will it stop the custom of chanting “death to America” in public gatherings, a senior Iranian politician said.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the foreign policy and national security committee in the Iranian parliament, told members of the engineers’ association that uranium enrichment is a “red line” in nuclear negotiations, adding that the suspension of enrichment in the past by Iran’s reformist government will never repeat itself.
“The gloom that surrounded the nuclear facilities at the time is over,” Boroujerdi was quoted by Iran’s Arabic-language news channel Al-Alam as saying Saturday. “Today Iran can take new decisions.”
Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif denied reports that Iran had agreed to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent and allow full monitoring of the underground enrichment facility at Fordo, which is to become a research facility.
Boroujerdi adamantly denied reports on the closure of Fordo.
“Fordo is one of Iran’s red lines and will certainly not be closed. It has been designed constructed to withstand the most severe threats,” he said. “If the Israeli entity wishes to act foolishly [by attacking it] it will certainly fail, because the Fordo installation is heavily fortified and cannot be struck.”
Israel is insisting that Iran completely suspend the enrichment of uranium, garnering a demand last week by US Secretary of State John Kerry that Iran prove “undeniably” that it is pursuing a peaceful nuclear program.
In his speech, the Iranian official also referred to reports that the traditional chant “death to America” will no longer be used, saying the opposite was true; and the slogan will be used even more than before...
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