Iran rejects precondition for nuclear talks

Iran reiterated on Monday that it would never accept any precondition for the resumption of nuclear talks with the European Union (EU).

"Preconditions would damage the foundation of nuclear talks, and the upcoming nuclear talks would not cover the place of Iran's uranium enrichment," chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told reporters.

Confirming that the bilateral talks would start within two weeks, Larijani said that Iran would only take into account proposals which secure "Iran's right to perform uranium enrichment in its own territory".

"New proposals can be focused on avenues to prevent Iran's uranium enrichment from being used for military purposes, and such proposals will be welcome," Larijani added.

The EU trio of Germany, France and Britain had been negotiating with Iran to persuade it to scrap uranium enrichment, which can be used to either fuel nuclear reactors or make atom bombs, but the talks broke off in August after Iran ended a freeze on uranium conversion, precursor to enriching uranium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decided on Nov. 24 to put off a referral of Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council after the EU and the US agreed to give Iran more time to consider a compromise proposal to let Iran enrich uranium on Russian soil.

Iran has said it will never give up its legitimate right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

The United States accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

Source: Xinhua