BEIJING, March 6 -- Iran calls on the International Atomic Energy Agency to defend its reputation when it meets on Monday to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue.

    As talks with the EU fails to reach any agreement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi says the IAEA should avoid any political move and only focus on the technical aspect of Iran's dossier.

    Asefi defends Iran's rights to nuclear programmes.

    "Europeans believe that we should not continue nuclear research activities and we believe we should. Research activities are not part of industrial uranium enrichment and all the countries have the right to do so for the sake of science development. Our activities are under the supervision of the Agency's inspectors and their cameras, so there is nothing to worry about."  Asefi said.

    On Thursday, Iran and Russia held talks to establish a joint uranium enrichment venture to ease concerns over its nuclear ambitions.

    However, the negotiations did not produce a clear-cut decision, as Iran did not entirely give up its plans for domestic enrichment, which is a key Western demand.

    Iran said on Sunday that it could reach an agreement with Russia or Europe, but such a deal would be called off if the IAEA referred Iran to the Security Council.

    The United States and its western allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

    Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the Iranian vice president and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, said said it would be a "double standard" if Iran was referred to the UN Security Council.

    Enrichment is a key process that can determine the direction of a nuclear program.


(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)