Iran Reiterates It Will Continue Peaceful Nuclear Program

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED September 12, 2013

Tehran will pursue its peaceful nuclear program and will not yield to pressure to scrap it, since it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday, adding that his country was seeking to resolve contentions about the program through talks.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV, Zarif said he would meet with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in New York. He emphasized that pressure in the talks would achieve nothing.

“It is in Iran’s national-security interests to let the entire world know that we do not want to acquire nuclear weapons,” he said. “There is no room in Iran’s security doctrine for nuclear weapons.”

“No side in the talks can end them in its favor by exerting pressure,” the top diplomat said, adding that no one could deprive the country of “peaceful nuclear technology.”

On September 5, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani entrusted his country’s Foreign Ministry with the responsibility for future nuclear talks with the P5+1 group of international mediators: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany.

Zarif praised the decision and said his ministry was well-positioned to work on the issue and achieve results.

Western countries suspect Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons, a claim that Iran has consistently denied. Tehran claims it needs atomic technology for producing electricity, although it has some of the world’s largest reserves of oil and gas.

A regular round of talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will be held in Vienna on September 27.

Topics: Asia, Iran

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