Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 14 / Trend T. Konyayeva /
Iran will never conduct nuclear tests, as Tehran stands for nuclear disarmament and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said in an interview with Le Figaro.
"We will never conduct nuclear tests. We do not even think about it. We seek the ways of nuclear disarmament. We are absolutely convinced that nuclear weapons do not give a sense of security. They do not solve any problems either," he said.
The Iranian nuclear program has caused concern since 2003, when the IAEA became aware of its secret activities. In late 2003, Iran signed the Additional Protocol to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and voluntarily announced the suspension of uranium enrichment. However, it later returned to these activities.
The enriched uranium can be used to produce nuclear weapons. However, it is necessary as fuel for atomic power plants. Several countries, including the U.S., are sure that Iran strives to develop nuclear weapons and call for the prevention of this development. Tehran has denied all charges, saying that its nuclear program has peaceful purposes.
Regarding the upcoming talks in Istanbul, Jalili said that Iran has a constructive approach. It hopes to establish cooperation to reduce tensions between Tehran and the West.
"We are serious. We agreed to cooperate on the issues of mutual interest. Iran has a strategic vision of a dialogue. If our partners arrive in Istanbul with the same spirit, a new partnership is likely to appear," he said.
Another round of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue was over in Geneva on Dec. 7, 2010. Deputy foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, Great Britain, China, France, Germany and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton attended the talks. Iran was represented by Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili.
The agreement was reached as a result of the talks. According to it, the consultations will continue in Istanbul in late January.
Earlier this week, official representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast said that the talks between Iran and the "Six" will be held in Istanbul on Jan. 21-22.
Jalili said that if the Six is ready to interact, not based on confrontation, Istanbul will launch a new process of interaction.
"In this case, we can fruitfully exchange our views. Some Western officials have realized that the idea of confrontation cannot lead to a positive outcome," he said.
He said that the decision of a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities can cost more to those who dare to it.
"Moreover, it would be useless because the Iranian scholars have knowledge to which there is no access," he said.
The right of the Iranian people to possess nuclear energy is not negotiable, as this law is written in the NPT.
"We responded positively to all the questions of the IAEA within the NPT. Many reports of the Agency confirmed that Iran has never deviated from its peaceful nuclear program. Now it is up to the Six to restore the confidence of the Iranian people towards nuclear programs of other countries, " he said.
NPT is a multilateral international document, developed by the UN Committee on Disarmament to prevent the expansion of the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons, to ensure the necessary international monitoring over the countries' fulfillment of the obligations under the treaty, and to create opportunities for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The participants of treaty are almost all independent countries of the world, except Israel, India, Pakistan and Korea.
Jalili said that the Six must answer the question why the West has not adopted the so-called Tehran Agreement.
"This proposal can be one of the points of cooperation. But, as it was mentioned last year after the West's refusal, in case of failure to provide medical research reactor with fuel, Iran will produce it itself, as it happened," he said.
The tripartite agreement on the exchange of uranium was reached May 17 between Iran, Turkey and Brazil. The foreign ministers of these countries signed a draft agreement for the exchange of Tehran's low-enriched uranium (up to 3.5 percent) and for highly enriched uranium (up to 20 percent) for the Tehran research reactor. According to the document, the exchange will be made on Turkish territory. But the western countries did not adopt this formula of fuel exchange.
The situation around Iran's nuclear program flared up again after Tehran officially notified the IAEA about its intention to begin work on uranium enrichment on its territory at a plant in Natanz. In turn, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran had independently begun to enrich uranium to 20 percent.
Jalili reiterated that Iran has a new generation of centrifuges. It demonstrates the significant progress made by Iran in the nuclear field.
"However, all developments are always carried out under the IAEA supervision," he said.
In mid-Dec. Salehi said that Iran produces a new generation of IR4 and IR3 centrifuges.
After all problems existing in the production are resolved, it is planned to launch them into operation by late 2011.
Regarding the recent attacks on Iranian nuclear scholars, Jalili said that mentioning these scholars' names in the UN Security Council's resolution jeopardizes these individuals.
"We are waiting for a response to these acts of terrorism by the international community which argues that it is combating terrorism. I am sure French people condemn such actions. Now we need to know whether the French government is ready to condemn these actions," he said.
One of the leading Iranian experts on nuclear physics Masood Ali-Mohammadi was killed in January 2010 as a result of a bomb explosion near his home in Tehran. The bomb was attached to a motorcycle parked nearby and appeared to be remote controlled. According to one version, Ali-Mohammadi was killed for his involvement in Iran's nuclear program, which had raised serious concerns in the West.
Two university teachers were attacked in Iran on November 29. The cars with teachers were undermined in the morning in Tehran. The explosion occurred at 7-8 a.m, when teachers together with their families left home to work. As a result of the terrorist act committed near the University of Shahid Behishti in the north of Tehran, one of the teachers of this university - Majid Shahryar - died; his wife and another passenger were seriously injured.
The second teacher at the Shahid Behishti university, Firuddin Abbasi and his wife were injured in an explosion at the Artesh alley. Both scholars worked in the field of Iranian nuclear technologies. The sanctions of the UN Security Council resolution 1747 are also imposed on Firuddin Abbasi.
Iranian officials have accused the United States, Israel, intelligence service of Great Britain and NATO of direct or indirect organizing terror acts on November 29, directed against two Tehran teachers.