Iran confirmed it would resume research on nuclear fuel today, prompting the head of the UN nuclear watchdog to warn that the world was running out of patience with Tehran in the dispute over its nuclear programme.
Germany warned that a resumption would have "consequences", and Washington urged Iran to observe its commitment to freeze uranium enrichment or face referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
Ursula Plassnik, foreign minister of EU president Austria, said Iran's decision was "the wrong step in the wrong direction and a cause of very serious concern," though her Chancellor, Wolfgang Schuessel, said it was too soon to discuss sanctions.
"Iran will today resume nuclear fuel research as scheduled," government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a news conference today.
Germany, France and Britain have been trying for over two years to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment programme. The EU and the United States suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran strongly denies this and says it wants only to generate electricity.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters an Iranian resumption of research "cannot be left without consequences."
"It would be a breach of the agreements we reached in Paris," he said, referring to the November 2004 accord in which Iran agreed to freeze its enrichment programme while in talks with the EU trio.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei expressed his exasperation with Iran in an interview with Sky Television to be broadcast later on Monday.