Iran said on Saturday that coming nuclear negotiations with the European Union (EU) should not be influenced by Tehran's decision to resume nuclear fuel research, stressing that there was no legal basis to oppose the move.

"Iran's decision to restart nuclear research, which is a right of every member state to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), should not have any influence on the process of the talks," Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Mostafavi was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.

Mostafavi said there was no legal obstruction to the resumption, reiterating that Iran will continue its "close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as before."

"We have announced that we want to restart nuclear research work, in line with our rights in the NPT and under the full supervision of the IAEA, and the agency is tasked with helping us in this regard," Mostafavi added.

Mostafavi's comments came as the EU said in a statement that Tehran's decision to resume fuel research "can only seriously jeopardize the possibility of a return to negotiations."

The decision was announced by Mohammad Saidi, deputy chief of the country's Atomic Energy Agency, on Tuesday, and in the meantime the IAEA confirmed that it was informed the resumption will take place on Jan. 9.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic would "not retreat even one step" from its decision, while Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, said that the decision was "not negotiable."

Iran and the EU trio of Britain, France and Germany are due to hold a new round of negotiations on Jan. 18, during which the EU is expected to pressurize Tehran on a recent Russian proposal to conduct its uranium enrichment in Russia.

The nuclear negotiations were stranded for months due to Iran's resumption of uranium conversion activities, a precursor to uranium enrichment, last August, but the Russian proposal created an opportunity for the two sides to return to the negotiating table.

However, Iran has remained tough on its position that uranium enrichment must be performed in its own territory, terming it as a principle to accept any proposal.

Earlier in the day, Hossein Entezami, spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted by the state television as saying that a Russian delegation had arrived in Tehran as planned and in the morning began talks with Iranian officials on the proposal.

Entezami's remarks denied a previous media report that the meeting had been postponed.

He said the two sides would "discuss Russia's proposal for joint uranium enrichment and also enrichment on the Iranian soil."

Based on Washington's accusation that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons secretly, the EU insists that Iran's complete command of uranium enrichment could lead to military use of the technology.

Source: Xinhua