Iran said on Tuesday that it expected talks with the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to continue and it was optimistic that they would proceed in the right direction.
In the latest high-level talks between the IAEA and Iran, conducted in Tehran in January and February, Iranian officials stuck to a refusal to address intelligence reports about covert research relevant to developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes only.
"We expect the dialogue that has started will continue," Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters after giving a speech to the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament. "There was some disagreement on drafting an initial framework that would set the ground for a new roadmap as how to proceed. "We are optimistic," he added, "that upcoming meetings between the high delegation of the IAEA and the Iranian (side) will be proceeding hopefully in the right direction."
The IAEA said that, given Iran's unwillingness to tackle the allegations of research with military nuclear applications, no further talks were scheduled. Salehi also accused the West of double standards for backing Iran's arch-enemy Israel, the only Middle East state outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and widely believed to be have the only nuclear arsenal in the region.
"We have clearly stated time and time again there are two alternatives in dealing with the Iranian peaceful nuclear programme. One way is engagement, co-operation and interaction. The other is confrontation and conflict," Salehi said. "...Iran is confident of the peaceful nature of its programme and has always insisted on the first alternative. When it comes to our relevant rights and obligations, our consistent position is that Iran does not seek confrontation, nor does it want anything beyond its inalienable, legitimate rights."
Laura Kennedy, US ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, rejected Salehi's comments on Iran's commitment to nuclear disarmament, saying they stood in "stark contrast to Iran's failure to comply with its international obligations regarding its nuclear programme".
"Indeed, Iran has moved in the opposite direction by expanding its capacity to enrich uranium to nearly 20 percent and continues to move forward with proscribed enrichment and heavy-water related activities, all in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions," Kennedy told the talks.