Iran announces readiness for nuclear talks, defies western pressures

Iranian high ranking officials expressed country's readiness for the initiation of nuclear talks with the world's major powers and at the same time defied western pressures.

Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Baqeri said the Islamic republic was ready for the next round of talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (G5+1), the local satellite Press TV reported Wednesday.

Baqeri said that the time and place for the talks, including the nuclear talks, between Iran and the G5+1 would be decided in the future, said the report.

Nuclear activities are a necessity for the country and nothing can hinder Tehran's nuclear program, Baqeri was quoted as saying, adding that the Islamic republic never sought nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.

Also on Tuesday, Iran's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said "Iran has always been ready for non-conditional talks ... and Iran's inalienable (nuclear) rights should be recognized."

"There is also a principle that the space of the talks should be a space for cooperation, not confrontation," he was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

In January, six world powers wrapped up crucial nuclear talks with Iran in Istanbul but failed to reach any agreement on Iranian nuclear program.

Moreover, Soltanieh reiterated Iran's previous position that UN sanctions against Iran are "illegal." "Under article 1230 of the ( IAEA) articles of associations, the agency can refer a country's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council only when that country' s noncompliance has been determined and reported to the director general by inspectors, who will then report the issue to the Board of Governors," Soltanieh was quoted as saying by Press TV on Wednesday.

Neither the former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei nor the agency' s inspectors had submitted such a report on Iran and thus referring the country's nuclear dossier to the Security Council is in violation of the agency's articles of association, he said.

Soltanieh said that referring a country's nuclear dossier to the council would only be justified when there is enough evidence that the state's nuclear activities have deviated toward military objectives, said the report.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said the economic sanctions imposed on Iran had not produced the results desired by the West and the country had not suffered from the mounting pressures and sanctions, the English-language Iran Daily reported Wednesday.

"The (Iranian) nation does not fear sanctions and can easily overcome the problems. The only thing is that those who have imposed these sanctions are being disgraced," said Rahimi.

Iran is under sanction pressures by the United States, European Union and other western countries over its controversial nuclear program which the West believe are moving to the atomic weaponry developments. However, Tehran denied the allegations, claiming that its nuclear program is for civilian and peaceful purpose.

Iran announces readiness for nuclear talks, defies western pressures