Iran Stresses Continued N. Activities

Senior Iranian officials underlined this week that the country would continued its civilian nuclear activities, reiterating that Tehran will move ahead with its peaceful programs in the field. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said Tuesday that Iran will not give up its "peaceful" nuclear activities as it needs to provide fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power plant and in order to supply fuel for the plant Iran has to continue its nuclear enrichment program. Mehman-Parast confirmed Iran's recent letter to the European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. "We have already announced that in order to cooperate (with the world's major powers) we are ready to talk on common grounds and no change has taken place in Iran's stance," he said. "We believe that in a cooperative and constructive atmosphere it is possible to remove the misunderstandings that have been created for the IAEA." Iran is continuing its peaceful nuclear activities and believes that dialogue is helpful for cooperation, he added. Meantime, the spokesman underlined that Iran will continue cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but at the same time wants to see a full materialization of its rights, an Iranian spokesman reiterated on Tuesday. "As we have repeatedly announced, our nuclear activity is fully peaceful and this has been acknowledged in several IAEA reports," Mehman-Parast said. "We are continuing cooperation with the agency and conducting our activities under the supervision of the organization (IAEA)," Mehman-Parast stated, and added, "and we should fully enjoy all our rights in light of this cooperation." Meantime, he voiced Iran's preparedness to hold talks with the world powers on common points, and underscored, "We are doing our nuclear activities within a peaceful framework. We consider these talks useful for effective and constructive cooperation and we have voiced our preparedness."