The UN's nuclear watchdog head said today Iran had told him it would step up efforts to answer questions on its atomic plans, while Tehran rejected calls to halt work the West says is designed to make weapons.
Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad as his helicopter prepares to leave the city of Mahvelat last night
Mohamed ElBaradei, due to report to the UN Security Council at the end of April on Iranian compliance with a demand to halt uranium enrichment, held talks in Tehran 48 hours after Iran said it had enriched uranium for the first time.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government has taken a firmer stance on the nuclear issue since winning power in elections last August, remained defiant despite a welter of international criticism over the enrichment announcement.
"Our answer to those who are angry about Iran obtaining the full nuclear cycle is one phrase. We say: 'Be angry and die of this anger'," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by Iran's IRNA news agency.
Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a lecture in Damascus Iran was determined to pursue nuclear technology and would respond if attacked by the United States or Israel.
The United States says it wants a diplomatic solution to the dispute, but has left open the option of military action.
Iran said on Tuesday it had enriched uranium to 3.5 per cent, the level needed to make fuel for nuclear power reactors but well below the grade required to make weapons. It said it would press ahead with plans for industrial-scale production.
ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been tasked by the UN Security Council to report on whether Iran was complying with demands to halt uranium enrichment, which has civilian and military uses.