A senior Iranian lawmaker here on Tuesday said that Iran regarded negotiations as a logical and positive means to solve the country's nuclear issue, the semi- official Mehr news agency reported.

"Iran deems negotiation as a logical means for removing any ambiguities on its nuclear program," Alaeddin Borujerdi, Chairman of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, was quoted as saying.

Borujerdi described the recent round of bilateral nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union (EU) on Dec. 21 as positive, citing the two sides' agreement to hold further negotiations in January 2006.

Borujerdi also expressed hope that the Iran-EU nuclear talks would bear fruit "in the short term".

Meanwhile, he said that Russia's proposal over enrichment abroad showed a "positive response to Iran's call for partnership with other states in its civilian nuclear program," but reiterated Tehran's position that the whole process of the enrichment must be performed at home.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that it had handed over a document to Tehran to formally suggest the Islamic Republic transfer its uranium enrichment to Russia.

The Russian proposal, firstly revealed in November but rejected by Tehran, is aimed at providing what the EU and the United States ask for as objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear research will not be used for military purposes.

Iran is currently under the pressure of the EU, which is the longtime broker of the Iranian nuclear issue, to accept the Russian proposal.

However, Elham Aminzadeh, a female member of Borujerdi's committee, held a different view on Moscow's proposal, saying that "Russia should not take a stance that would give the impression that it is working in line with the interests of the West."

"The Islamic Republic welcomes any proposal that recognizes Iran's legal nuclear rights and provides the international community with an objective guarantee that its nuclear activities will not be diverted toward a weapons program," Aminzadeh added.

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said on Monday that Iran welcomes Russia and other countries to participate in its uranium enrichment program.

But the cooperation must be based on Iran's principles of uranium enrichment inside the country, seeking an atmosphere of trust and providing objective guarantees on the peaceful nature of its enrichment activities, he added.

Source: Xinhua