TOKYO, February 27 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Fesyun) - Tehran will not halt its nuclear research, and will continue to develop its nuclear energy sector, the Iranian foreign minister said Monday.
At a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso in Tokyo, Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was pursuing nuclear research in laboratories, which was impossible to suspend, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman reported.
Iran unilaterally lifted its two-year moratorium on atomic research earlier this year, allegedly to produce energy for its nuclear power plants. However, several countries have voiced fears that the country may be pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program.
In response to international allegations, the Iranian minister reiterated that his country had the right to use atomic power for energy, and that Iran would not stand any form of "nuclear apartheid."
The Japanese minister, in turn, urged Iran to give a sensible and positive reply to Russia's proposal to enrich uranium for the Islamic Republic on its territory, largely seen as a possible resolution of the current standoff, and said Japan would not like to see Iran isolated.
The United States and other countries have been pushing for Iran's nuclear file to be referred to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions on Tehran if it is found to be in breach of its international commitments.
Earlier, Aso had said Japan aimed to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, in a bid to prevent UN economic sanctions.
Appearing in parliament Monday, Aso said Iran was secretly defying the decisions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, and was therefore losing the confidence of the international community.
Aso also said that Japan was not aware of the content of the preliminary agreement between Russia and Iran to set up the joint venture for uranium enrichment, and that it was still unclear whether Tehran had agreed to enrich uranium for its power plants outside its territory.
Mottaki, who will stay in Japan until March 1, plans to meet Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on February 28. Koizumi is expected to reiterate Japan's commitment to friendly and mutually beneficial relations with energy-rich Iran.
The possibility of UN economic sanctions against Iran in the wake of the IAEA's board session on March 6 has been raising international tensions, including in the Far East. Japan is a major importer of Iranian oil, receiving about 550,000 barrels a day.
Japan's Inpex company, where the government holds 36%, intends to develop oil fields in Azadegan in southern Iran, despite the U.S. government's objections. 
Being dependent on Iranian oil supplies, which account for 15% of its oil imports, Japan wants to avoid any extreme measures or sanctions against Tehran.
Japan said it would not impose economic sanctions against Iran, but was willing to exert diplomatic pressure on the Islamic Republic to defuse the current situation.
