News / Middle East

Iran to Announce Conditions for Nuclear Talks

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran will announce its conditions next week for talks with world powers on the country's controversial nuclear program.

The president commented Thursday without elaborating on what those conditions might be.  

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quotes Mr. Ahmadinejad as saying Tehran would bring "fresh methodology" to future talks with European nations.  He says the move would be in reaction to their "hostile approach" in passing another round of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

IRNA says President Ahmadinejad's comments were a reference to an invitation from European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, this month.  She invited Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to talks about his country's nuclear program.

The U.N. Security Council voted this month to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran because of its refusal to stop its uranium enrichment program.  

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect Iran is trying to build weapons.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says all countries with nuclear weapons should take steps to disarm.  He commented Thursday at an international disarmament conference in Turkmenistan.

On Wednesday, Iran's atomic energy chief said his country could now produce 20 percent enriched uranium on a regular basis, a process that moves Iran closer to being able to enrich uranium at levels that could be used to make an atomic bomb.

The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi as saying Tehran has the capacity to produce five kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium a month.

 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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