NO DICE

Iran Won't Stop Nuclear Enrichment

Maintains it's for civilian purposes.

No surprises here: Iran said it has no plans to halt its nuclear-enrichment program any time soon, making next week’s international talks an exercise in posturing. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki blamed Washington’s forceful approach for making it impossible to take a diplomatic route on the issue. "Sanctions have had no affect on us," he added. The U.S. says Iran’s goal is to build a nuclear weapon, but Mottaki maintained that the program was for entirely peaceful purposes. The Arab world in particular, Mottaki said, had nothing to fear. "The reality is that Iran has more or less the same potential of other countries to become very powerful, but we will not use that potential to hurt our neighbors… especially because our neighbors are Muslims,” he said. “Our power is your power, and your power is ours.”