Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki gestures during a news conference at the Iranian Embassy in Madrid March 1, 2007. Mottaki said on Tuesday that issues concerning his country's nuclear program can only be solved by political means and through diplomatic channels. (Xinhua/Reuters, File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    GENEVA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Tuesday that issues concerning his country's nuclear program can only be solved by political means and through diplomatic channels.

    Mottaki spoke to reporters in Geneva, where he attended two U.N. meetings on disarmament and human rights respectively.

    Mottaki said that his country would not yield to any outside pressure, and the related Security Council resolutions would not help solve the issue.

    Any action for solving the nuclear issue must be "neutral and balanced" and take into account Iran's legal rights, he said.

    The minister reiterated that, as a signatory member to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, his country has the legal right to develop and use nuclear energy in a peaceful way.

    He said Iran had no reason to stop its uranium enrichment activities.

    However, he said Iran would always like to find a solution to the nuclear issue through cooperation instead of confrontation.

    On the possibility of U.S. military actions against Iran, Mottaki said his country had to be prepared for all kinds of situations.

    But he said there currently not much chance of a military invasion, and he was much hopeful for a cooperative solution to the nuclear issue.

    Earlier in the day, Mottaki told a session of the Conference on Disarmament that Iran was prepared to offer "necessary guarantees" on its nuclear program if the issue is withdrawn from the U.N. Security Council.

    If the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany "refer back Iran's nuclear issue from the Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), my country will be prepared to offer necessary guarantees in order to create confidence regarding non-diversion of its nuclear program," Mottaki said.

    "If we can achieve a political understanding on the aspects of the solution, Iran would be ready to pave the ground for the commencement of the negotiations," he added.

    But Mottaki did not specify what kind of guarantees his country was prepared to make.

    Six key nations are considering new punitive measures against Iran. Their consultations on the new Security Council draft resolution have been going on for two weeks in New York and will continue on Tuesday morning.

    French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who attended the talks, said Monday that the door for a diplomatic solution on the Iranian nuclear issue is always open, encouraging Iran to come back to negotiations.

    Washington has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program, a charge that Iran denies.