Iran ready to resume nuke talks

2005-08-15 12:39

Tehran - Iran said on Monday it was willing to keep negotiating with the Europeans over its nuclear programme but again insisted it would not give up its "legitimate rights".

"We are ready to negotiate under any circumstances but if our dossier is referred to the security council with political motivations it will create restrictions for us," said outgoing foreign minister Kamal Kharazi..

"Brave Iranians, accustomed to foreign threats and pressures, will never give up their legitimate rights," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

Iran is at loggerheads with the international community over its nuclear programme after it resumed sensitive uranium conversion activities, ending a nine-month freeze agreed on during talks with the Europeans.

'Not negotiable'

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi said the resumption of uranium conversion was "not negotiable" despite a resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week urging Iran to suspend all such activities.

The IAEA however stopped short of referring the case to the United Nations security council, which could impose sanctions on Iran.

Asefi also cautioned the Europeans on Sunday that their future attitude towards Iran would determine whether it decided to resume uranium enrichment, a process that makes fuel for nuclear power plants or can be the core of an atomic bomb.

Iran, accused by the United States of seeking nuclear weapons, says it has the right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

- AFP