TEHRAN, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki gave those countries pressing Iran to give up its nuclear program an "ultimatum" Saturday on its own proposal.
Mottaki, in a statement broadcast throughout Iran, said Iran would begin enriching uranium to 20 percent if its plan is not accepted within a month, The New York Times reported. He did not give details on the Iranian proposal, and his previous offers for a uranium exchange have been rejected by the United States and its allies.
Iran missed a deadline Thursday to accept a proposal negotiated by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Under that plan, Iranian uranium would be shipped abroad for enrichment in a form that could be used for power production but not for weapons.
Analysts say the government may be talking tough because of growing opposition within the country. Even critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad take pride in Iran's nuclear program.
"I am sure that, in light of the recent events much more than in the past, the Revolutionary Guards and Ahmadinejad would love the new heightened tension with the U.S. and the West," a Washington-based expert told the Times.
U.S. government strategists said President Obama is considering new sanctions aimed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, believed to be responsible for the nuclear program and the crackdown on opponents of the regime.
