Iran defiant as UN nuclear talks fail

The UN nuclear watchdog ended its latest mission to Iran after talks on Tehran's suspected secret atomic weapons research failed, a setback likely to increase the risk of confrontation with the West.

In a defiant response, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran's nuclear policies would not change despite mounting international pressure against what the West says are Iran's plans to obtain nuclear bombs.

"With God's help, and without paying attention to propaganda, Iran's nuclear course should continue firmly and seriously," he said on state television. "Pressures, sanctions and assassinations will bear no fruit. No obstacles can stop Iran's nuclear work."

As sanctions mount, ordinary Iranians are suffering from the effects of soaring prices and a collapsing currency. Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed over the past two years in bomb attacks that Tehran has blamed on its arch-adversary Israel.

The collapse of the nuclear talks came as Iran seems increasingly isolated, with some experts seeing the Islamic republic's mounting defiance in response to sanctions against its oil industry and financial institutions as evidence that it is in no mood to compromise with the West.

Elections on March 2 are expected to be won by supporters of Khamenei, an implacable enemy of the West.

The failure of the two-day visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency could now hamper any resumption of wider nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers.

A team from the IAEA had hoped to inspect a site at Parchin, southeast of Tehran, where the agency believes there is a facility to test explosives.

"During both the first and second round of discussions, the agency team requested access to the military site at Parchin. Iran did not grant permission for this visit to take place," the Vienna-based IAEA said in a statement.

"It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin. We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached," said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.

A Western official added: "We think that if Iran has nothing to hide why do they behave in that way?"

Earlier, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said Tehran expected to hold more talks with the UN agency, but Amano's spokeswoman said no further meetings were planned.

Iran rejects accusations that its nuclear programme is a covert bid to develop a nuclear weapons capability, saying it is seeking to produce only electricity.

But its refusal to curb sensitive atomic activities which can have both civilian and military purposes, and its record of years of nuclear secrecy has drawn increasingly tough UN and separate U.S. and European measures.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out using force against Iran if they conclude that diplomacy and sanctions will not stop it from developing a nuclear bomb.

"This was only to be expected, given Iran's evasions," a senior Israeli official said.

The failure of the IAEA's mission may increase the chances of a strike by Israel on Iran.

"I think there is a serious risk that this crisis is increasingly less about establishing evidence that Iran has taken a decision to reactivate its nuclear weapons programme, and more about the window of opportunity Israel assesses it has for a viable chance of destroying or delaying Iran's nuclear programme by military means, said Henry Wilkinson at Janusian security consultants in London.

STILL TIME FOR DIPLOMACY?

An IAEA report in November suggested Iran had pursued military nuclear technology and helped precipitate the latest sanctions by the European Union and United States.

One key finding was information that Iran had built a large containment chamber at Parchin to conduct high-explosives tests. The UN agency said there were "strong indicators of possible weapon development".

The IAEA said intensive efforts had been made to reach agreement on a document "facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues" in connection with Iran's nuclear programme.

"Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document," it said in an unusually blunt statement.

The IAEA mission's failure may reduce the chance of any resumption of wider nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers - the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

The West last week expressed some optimism at the prospect of new talks, particularly after Iran sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton promising to bring "new initiatives", without stating preconditions.

But the United States and its allies may be reluctant if they feel that the Islamic state is unlikely to engage in substantive discussions about its nuclear activities.

The deputy head of Iran's armed forces said on Tuesday Iran would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if it felt its national interests were endangered.

"Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions," Mohammad Hejazi told the Fars news agency.

In retaliation for oil sanctions, Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a third of the world's seaborne oil, while the United States signalled it would use force to keep it open.

The White House has said there was still time for diplomacy.

"Israel and the United States share the same objective, which is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

"There is time and space for diplomacy to work, for the effect of sanctions to result in a change of Iranian behaviour."

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