Iran yesterday dealt a new blow to a compromise offer from Russia on its nuclear program, saying it would only consider such a deal if it acknowledged the Islamic republic's right to enrich uranium on Iranian soil. "As we said before we want to have enrichment inside Iran ... and any proposal which is based on this principle will be studied," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters. "We are studying the Russian proposal based on this framework," he said. "The government will never give up its principles." Moscow has suggested allowing Iran to conduct uranium enrichment in Russia, giving the country access to the nuclear fuel cycle while guaranteeing its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.