An Iranian MP suggested that parliament might advocate withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if Thursday's Geneva talks with major powers fail and "if the Zionists (Israel) and America continue their pressure on Iran" - a reference to policies including economic sanctions.
Washington has suggested possible new sanctions on banking and the oil and gas industry if Tehran fails to assuage Western fears it seeks nuclear weapons. U.S. officials believe sanctions could now have more effect, playing on leadership divisions evident since a disputed presidential poll.
Comments by Western and Iranian officials suggested little optimism ahead of the Thursday's rare meeting of the P5+1 - permanent U.N. Security Council members China, Britain, France, the United Sates and Russia, as well as Germany - with Iran.
"My expectation, or my hope, is that we will be able to get...the guarantees from Tehran, that the programme in which they are engaged in is a peaceful programme," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters in Gothenburg, Sweden.
"I don't think it will be easy to ask for, but we will continue to engage."
Last week's news of a second uranium enrichment plant, under construction south of Tehran, added urgency to the Geneva talks. Uranium in less refined form can be used for power generation but in a more highly refined state is used in nuclear bombs.
Statements from Tehran on Tuesday allowed some ambiguity on Iran's readiness to talk.
"Iran will not discuss issues related to its nuclear "rights" ...in Geneva on Thursday," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, told reporters.
"But we can discuss about disarmament, we can discuss about non-proliferation and other general issues," he said. "The new site is part of our rights and there is no need to discuss."
Iranian state Press TV quoted Salehi as saying on Monday Tehran was in contact with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over a date for inspection of the plant.
Iran's IRNA news agency quoted MP Mohammad Karamirad, a conservative and member of parliament's foreign policy and national security commission, as saying Iran could close the door completely to cooperation with world nuclear authorities.
"If the Zionists and America continue their pressure on Iran and if the talks...do not reach a conclusion, then parliament will take a clear and transparent position, such as Iran's withdrawal from the NPT," he said.
Iranian missile tests on Sunday and Monday added to tension with Western powers, who fear a hardline leadership in the Islamic Republic could ultimately use a threat of nuclear attack to pursue its political ends in the Middle East and beyond.
Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying missile test launches by Iran should not be used as an additional argument for imposing sanctions against Tehran.
Iran denies any plans for nuclear weapons and portrays international pressure on it over its programme as a Western plot, with deep historic roots, to isolate and destabilise the country.
ELECTION PROTESTS
Iranian lawmakers signed a statement expressing support for negotiations based on proposals put forward by Iran, which do not mention Tehran's own nuclear programme.
"We recommend the 5+1 to use this historic opportunity," the 239 MPs said in a statement quoted by state broadcaster IRIB.
"If the group of 5+1 repeats past mistakes instead of using this opportunity, the Iranian parliament would take other decisions as it did in the past."
In 2006, the Iranian parliament passed a bill obliging the government to review the level of its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog after the United Nations approved sanctions on Tehran over its atomic programme.
The Geneva meeting is the first such encounter since the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred mass protests in Tehran and signs of division in the leadership over accusations of vote fixing. It is also the first since President Barack Obama took office, seeking to revive contacts.
Russia, though cautious on sanctions, has expressed concern about Iranian missile launches and about Tehran's nuclear programme. President Dmitry Medvedev has said "other means" could be employed if Geneva talks failed.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article