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Iran rejects terms for nuclear talks

Atul Aneja

Tehran not to suspend uranium enrichment

DUBAI: Iran has affirmed that it would not accept suspension of uranium enrichment, even for a short duration, as a precondition for starting talks with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany.

"Iran does not see any reason to suspend nuclear activities," Iran State television quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying on Friday. Earlier on Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said Western countries wanted to draw political mileage by coaxing Iran into accepting suspension, even if it was carried out for a single day.

The President's remarks were made in the backdrop of Thursday's meeting on Iran's nuclear programme in Berlin between the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, and the European Union's foreign policy representative, Javier Solana.

Challenge to the West

"They want to launch a propaganda war and convey to the world that they have forced Iran to accept suspension of its nuclear activities. This is because their hegemony over the globe can be challenged when Iran resists their demands," he said. Iran's state-run Islamic Republican News Agency quoted Mr. Ahmedinejad as saying that the "big powers" had "completely failed" to manage the global economy, culture, peace and security. He stressed that access to nuclear technology was Iran's right and his country was not obliged to "build confidence" with the Western nations.

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