BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- The visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Maouchehr Mottaki said here Friday that Iran is still determined to resolve the nuclear issue through peaceful negotiation with the concerned parties.

    Mottaki made the remark at a press conference in the Iranian embassy in Beijing. According to a Chinese-language translation of his remarks made in Persian, the foreign minister said that Iran will continue to seek an appropriate resolution of the nuclear issue within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

    Since becoming an IAEA member, Iran has cultivated good cooperation with the agency, said Mottaki, noting that Iran has maintained good exchange and communication with all IAEA members, including the three EU nations of Britain, Germany and France.

    On late Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued an official statement announcing that Tehran was prepared to restart nuclear negotiations with the IAEA and all of its members, including the European Union (EU), without conditions.

    The statement, quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency on Wednesday, also said that Tehran would seek to observe "a balanced approach to rights and commitments and to welcome the negotiations under the current circumstances."

    The nuclear negotiations between Iran and the EU have been stalled since Tehran in early August defiantly resumed its highly sensitive uranium conversion activities, the preparatory step for uranium enrichment, which has also bring the Iranian nuclear issueto a radical deadlock. The IAEA on Sept. 24 adopted a resolution drafted by the EU which urged Iran to fully suspend all of its activities related to uranium enrichment before November and warned of referring the case to the UN Security Council otherwise.

    Iran also welcomes other countries to make proposals for the resolution of the nuclear issue, Mottaki said, stressing that Iran opposes and has no intention to engage in any projects for the development of nuclear weapons.

    Mottaki said Iran's projects for the peaceful utilization of nuclear power is transparent, highlighting that the Iranian people have the rights of peaceful and just use of nuclear power.

    He also expressed the willingness to invite foreign enterprises to participate in Iran's peaceful development of nuclear energy.

    "Foreign companies, whether it is state-owned or private, is welcomed to our nuclear projects," Mottaki said.

    Foreign companies in Iran are allowed to hold stakes of up to 49 percent. Enditem