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Iran ready to improve transparency, but will never give up nuclear right: envoy

12 September 2013 18:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The new Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday said Tehran was ready to remove ambiguity on over disputed nuclear plans, but stressed Iran would never give up its established nuclear right under the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Iran is ready to faithfully engage and remove any ambiguity on its nuclear activities," Reza Najafi, the new Iranian ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog, said in his first speech to the agency's closed-door board meeting.

He said Tehran was ready to cooperate with the agency constructively on the nuclear issue.

Fresh rounds of talks between Iran and the IAEA are scheduled on Sept. 27 in Vienna. Ten rounds of previous talks have failed to make substantial progress in the past two years.

Najafi reiterated Iran would never compromise on its "inalienable right to develop nuclear program."

Iranian President Hassan Rohani appointed Najafi to replace Ali Asghar Soltanieh, whose relation with the the IAEA was seen as a source of tension by the agency.

Najafi's appointment is seen by the West as a sign that Iran's moderate president seeks a diplomatic resolution to the decade-long nuclear dispute.

Western states have long accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of Tehran's nuclear power plans - an allegation Iran strongly denies and has repeatedly dismissed.