Iran's former negotiator urges EU to seize chance in new nuclear talks

Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani urged the European Union (EU) on Saturday to seize the opportunity of the upcoming nuclear negotiations, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Rowhani, current Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's representative to the country's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), made the call in the northern city of Semnan, the report said.

He was quoted as saying that Europe's negotiators should "take advantage of the opportunity open for nuclear negotiations and not be influenced by the hue and cry of international Zionism or Washington."

"The Islamic Republic does not seek adventure and conflict but seeks only recognition of its inalienable right in these talks," Rowhani added.

Rowhani, who had served as Secretary of the SNSC during former president Mohammad Khatami's reign from 1997 to August 2004, also expressed hope that the Europeans will hold talks with Iranian representatives on the related laws and regulations on peaceful use of nuclear technology.

His remarks came four days before Iran and the EU would reopen a new round of negotiations in Vienna, Austria.

Earlier in the day, the EU leaders in Brussels condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's latest anti-Israel comments and warned Tehran about its nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad said recently that the Holocaust was a "myth" invented by Europe to establish a Jewish state in the Middle East and reiterated that Israel should be move out of the region.

Israel has already announced that it cannot accept an Iran equipped with nuclear weapons.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

Source: Xinhua