Iran open to talks with US on nuclear issue

Iran will not object to talking with the United States on Tehran's nuclear program on the basis of mutual respect and equality, said Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi here on Tuesday.

But the offer was rejected by Washington.

"Our condition for negotiating with America is that they negotiate with us based on principles of mutual respect and equality and not to impose their viewpoints," the minister told a joint press conference with his South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Iran re-started negotiations with Britain, France and Germany on Monday on freezing Tehran's nuclear program, and said earlier that it will continue to freeze its nuclear activities only as long as the talks with the above European countries show progress.

Kharazi said the talks were "very serious" and Iran has "no interest in wasting time and look forward to assessing trend after three months to see if negotiations can guarantee Iran's right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes or not."

However, he warned that if Tehran finds the talks are waste of time, "definitely we will make our own decisions."

Meanwhile in Washington on Tuesday, White House spokesman ScottMcClellan expressed support for European countries' efforts, but said what Washington believes is that "ultimately Iran agree to end its nuclear weapons program, not just suspend it."

Iran reached an agreement with the three European countries in late November on the suspension of its uranium enrichment program, but it said later the suspension was only for a short period of time.

Source: Xinhua