Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday Tehran will not discuss its controversial nuclear program at talks with the Group of Six in Istanbul on January 21-22.
"We will absolutely not recognize the negotiation if the other side wants to negotiate on the issue of the [Iranian] nuclear dossier," Salehi said in an interview with state-run Iran newspaper.
Salehi, who previously headed Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said the Iranian nuclear issue could be only discussed with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog.
"The agency, based on international rules and regulations, is the only authority to judge the member states' issues," Salehi said adding that the discussion of the issue with Iran Six is "meaningless."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran was ready to discuss global international issues at the talks with the group of six powers, but not its nuclear program.
The West, led by the United States, suspects Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, but the Islamic Republic, under a few sets of international sanctions already, insists it needs nuclear power only for civilian purposes.
The Iran Six, which comprises Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, has been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and to alleviate concerns about its nuclear ambitions.
MOSCOW, January 12 (RIA Novosti)
