Iran stands firm on nuclear work

Tens of thousands of flag-waving Iranians converged on Azadi Square on Sunday to voice support for Iran’s bid for nuclear energy, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed to press forward with the nation’s uranium enrichment program.

“When we suspend our activities, they will never let us resume them,” the president told a crowd of cheering, chanting supporters who alternately sang patriotic anthems and burned Uncle Sam-hatted effigies of President Bush.

In his hourlong speech on the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, when crowds each year assemble to commemorate the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, it was expected that Ahmadinejad would announce progress on Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

Iran is said to be in the beginning stages of installing industrial-scale uranium enrichment centrifuges at an underground site at Natanz, but Ahmadinejad disclosed no advancements Sunday. Western specialists say the start-up has been hindered by technical problems, including difficulties operating the above-ground test centrifuges.

Iran also has hinted that it might try to set up P-2 centrifuges, which are more advanced than those being installed at Natanz, but there was no announcement of that, either. Ahmadinejad hinted that reports of new technological gains of an unspecified nature would be forthcoming by April 9.

Iranian officials have asserted a right to develop a civilian nuclear power program, but the United States and other Western nations believe that Iran is aiming to construct a nuclear weapon.

For all the flag waving, fist clenching and chants of “Death to America,” the crowd seemed somewhat subdued, as did the president. Hundreds wandered off in the middle of Ahmadinejad’s speech, and the subtext to his address was that Iran intended to cooperate and was prepared for talks if the Bush administration did not unilaterally set the terms.

“Why are your nuclear sites operating 24 hours a day, and we have to stop ours? We are ready to negotiate, but in a fair atmosphere,” the president said. “Why do we have to suspend [enrichment] before negotiations?”

He said Iran was committed to continuing full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, including access to Iran’s nuclear sites.

In Germany, meanwhile, chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani struck a similarly conciliatory tone, asserting that Iran was prepared to settle all outstanding issues with the IAEA over the next three weeks.

“Today we announce to you that the political will of Iran is aimed at the negotiated settlement of the case, and we don’t want to aggravate the situation in our region,” Larijani told a gathering of the world’s top security officials in Munich.

He added that Iran was seeking harmonious relations with its neighbors in the Middle East.

“That Iran is willing to threaten Israel is wrong,” Larijani said. “We pose no threat, and if we are conducting nuclear research and development we are no threat to Israel. We have no intention of aggression against any country.”

Ahmadinejad’s speech was the highlight of a day here that also included schoolchildren singing patriotic songs (including a recently penned anthem, “Nuclear power for peaceful goal, today it’s the song of Iranians,” and “The threat of the United States is not useful anymore.”)

One woman waved a caricature of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with huge lips pursed into a snarl. Bush was depicted with big ears and a cowboy hat stamped with the Star of David.

Streets around Azadi Square were filled with people headed for the rally, most bused in by the government from state offices, factories and schools. But some came on their own, a few stopping to buy Spiderman and Barbie balloons along the way.

“Please tell Mr. Bush, stay in your place, because you cannot do anything against this nation. If he tries to harm us, he will regret it,” said Fatimeh Youssefi, who came with her granddaughter, both clutching chadors tightly around their chins. “We will defend our country to the day we are dead as martyrs.”

“It’s our duty to come here for our country and our revolution, and to say that nuclear energy is our right,” said Mehdi Besharati, a 49-year-old government employee. “Why is it that the other countries can have nuclear energy, but we can’t?”

Ahmadinejad also used the occasion to warn the U.S. about its continued presence in Iraq, although he did not address Bush administration claims that Shiite-run Iran was aiding Shiite militias in the neighboring state.

“There’s no more dictator, so why are you staying there? Iraq has a national parliament now. Why are you staying? Why are you making a new war between Sunni and Shia?” he said.

“The Iranian nation is brothers of the Iraqi nation. Millions of Iranians each year travel to Iraq. The security of Iraq is our security. If there is no safety in Iraq, it means there is no safety in the entire neighborhood,” he said.

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kim.murphy@latimes.com