By Xinhua
Tehran : Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said his country might resume nuclear talks with the EU, although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ruled out such talks following the adoption of a new UN Security Council resolution over Tehran’s nuclear programmes.
“We are still in favour of talks which would have tangible and effective results and contain constructive proposals,” Mottaki said Sunday at an international nuclear conference in Tehran.
The conference was being held at the Iranian foreign ministry and was being attended by some 50 scholars, lawyers and politicians from Germany, the US, Italy and Jordan, amongst other countries.
“The IAEA reports show that our nuclear programmes have been peaceful and that Western opposition is politically oriented,” the Iranian chief diplomat said.
He accused the veto powers plus Germany of using the UN and the IAEA as a political instrument.
“We have always supported negotiations that are purposeful, meaningful and effective,” Mottaki stressed.
The UN Security Council last Monday adopted a new resolution against Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, slapping stronger sanctions to press the Islamic country to suspend uranium enrichment activities.
Following the adaptation of the resolution, Ahmadinejad declared that his country would no longer negotiate over its nuclear issue outside the framework of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Javad Vaidi, deputy head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on sidelines of the international conference that encouraging negotiations while using threats simultaneously by five permanent members of UN Security Council plus Germany was by no means acceptable.
“The time of using the policy of carrot and stick is over,” he added, referring to the “dual-track approach” taken by the foreign ministers of the so-called Iran Six countries.
Washington has been accusing Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Iran has been denying and insisting that its nuclear programme is of peaceful purpose.