Iran says willing to negotiate with every country over nuclear program

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on Tuesday that Tehran is willing to accept negotiation offers from any country including European state over its nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"We are ready to hold negotiations with every country for confidence building and giving them objective guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful and will never be diverted from civilian nature," Larijani was quoted as saying.

Nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union (EU) have been stalled since Tehran resumed its uranium conversion activities in early August.

As a result, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday adopted a resolution on the Iranian nuclear issue drafted by the EU.

The resolution accused Iran of breaching international nuclear safeguards and conditions a referral of Iran's case to the UN Security Council on whether Tehran agrees to halt its sensitive nuclear activities and provide more transparent cooperation before the agency's next meeting in November.

Larijani termed the resolution as lacking legal basis, expressing hope that the IAEA will review the resolution.

"I do not think hasty referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council will benefit the United States or the European countries. The region needs stability and the smoke of any escalation in the region will hurt their own eyes," Larijani said.

Larijani said that Iran's next step will be determined by the EU's acts, referring to Iran's demand for amending the resolution.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday, asking the IAEA and the EU to amend the resolution and threatening to cancel all of Iran's voluntary and temporary concessions, including the implementation of the Additional Protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows rigid IAEA inspections.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said on Tuesday that the warning in the statement was "serious."

A group of Iranian lawmakers have also planned to present an urgent plan to the Majlis (parliament) to press the government to suspend the implementation of the Additional Protocol.

Larijani said Iran will "not make hasty decision," stressing that the Majlis will examine the plan according to "what the

Europeans will do next."

Iran suspended all activities related to uranium enrichment last November as a "temporary and voluntary" confidence-building

measure, which opened gate to negotiations with the EU. However, the talks were deadlocked due to uncompromising stances of the two sides.

The EU has been persuading Tehran to abandon its efforts to build nuclear fuel cycles, including uranium enrichment. However, Iran insists that it never give up legal rights of the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civilian program, a charge rejected by Tehran.

Source: Xinhua