Iran New President Says Country Committed to Nuclear Talks

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED August 07, 2013

Iran is committed to resolving conflicts over its nuclear program and is waiting for a response from opponents, the country’s new president said Tuesday.

“As president of Iran, I can say that we have serious political will to find a way to resolve the situation while ensuring the national interests and rights of the Iranian people,” said Hassan Rouhani, who was formally endorsed as president on Saturday.

Tehran hopes that “opponents of the Islamic republic will have the same kind of will,” he added.

Western countries suspect Iran of using its nuclear program to develop an atomic arsenal, a claim that Iran has consistently denied. Tehran says it needs nuclear power to produce electricity, although it has some of the world's largest reserves of oil and gas.

Iran will closely watch Washington’s practical steps, not its declarations, the president said.

“The US should demonstrate goodwill in its intentions,” he said, adding that recent comments from the White House point to “a lack of accurate understanding about what is going on in Iran.”

On Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US was prepared to work with Iran’s new government if it chooses “to engage substantively and seriously to meet its international obligations and find a peaceful solution to this issue.”

Rouhani did not rule out the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States on its nuclear program “if our interests are not ignored.”

He said that negotiations with the group of six international mediators on Iran’s nuclear program had “not reached an impasse” and that negotiations would resume “as soon as a new negotiator is appointed,” after a new cabinet is confirmed.

Rouhani also said Iran would continue negotiations with Russia on the development of its nuclear power industry.

On Sunday, Russian parliament speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Moscow and Tehran might expand collaboration in civilian nuclear-power engineering after Iran’s first nuclear power plant at Bushehr comes into full operation.

Construction of Bushehr began in the 1970s, but has been plagued by delays. Russia signed a billion-dollar deal with Tehran to complete the plant in 1998. The plant's launch in August 2010 prompted Israel and other nations to express fear that the reactor could help Iran create an atomic bomb. Tehran has denied the allegations, saying the facility is used for peaceful power generation only.

Topics: Asia, Iran

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