Special
report: Iran Nuclear
Crisis
TEHRAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear
negotiator Ali Larijani reiterated on Monday that the Islamic republic never
wanted to make nuclear bombs, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"As we have already declared Iran never wants to
produce nuclear bombs," he told reporters at his joint press conference with
visiting head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI)
Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim.
Larijani, who is also secretary of Iran's Supreme
National Security Council, stressed that Iran's nuclear program is civilian and
it is very vital for the country to produce nuclear energy.
"Those who seek to proliferate nuclear weapons never
let International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to monitor their
nuclear sites," he said.
He underlined that Iran's nuclear standoff with the
West would be resolved through negotiations and such negotiations could be
fruitful.
Meanwhile, Larijani confirmed that he will attend a
major annual security conference to be held in German city of Munich this
weekend, but dismissed the prospect of any talks with U.S. officials.
The new U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will lead
a U.S. delegation to attend conference.
For his part, Hakim said that political debates
between Iran and the United States will be most beneficial to the entire Middle
East region.
"Such talks are of great significance considering the
regional situation and that all Iraqi officials believe the talks are
necessary," Hakim said.
The United States has persistently accused Iran of
supporting the Iraqi insurgents to fight with coalition forces since the fall of
Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, but Tehran has denied it and said such
allegations were U.S. deliberate intervention to the Iran-Iraq ties.
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, also
says it needs to enrich uranium as a peaceful, alternative energy source and has
the right to do so under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
However, the West has accused Iran of trying to
produce nuclear weapons under a civilian cover, a charge denied by Tehran.
The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1737 on
Dec. 23,2006, demanding Iran to "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing
activities, including research and development, and work on all heavy
water-related projects."
However, Iran has rejected the resolution as an
"illegal measure" and vowed to continue the country's nuclear
programs.
