The return of the Iranian nuclear dossier to the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, would be a major step towards settling the dispute, Tehran's foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday.
"The Iranian nuclear dossier should be returned from the United Nations Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and be dealt with within a normal course," Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said in his weekly press conference.
"In that case Iran would also be ready to boost its cooperation with the IAEA," the spokesman added.
High-ranking Iranian officials had told Mohamed ElBaradei during the IAEA head's visit to Tehran that there was no legal justification for the Iranian nuclear case remaining at the UN Security Council and should therefore be returned to the IAEA as the only internationally acknowledged source to deal with the dossier.
Observers believe that in that case, Iran would also be ready to resume implementation of the IAEA Additional Protocol which allowed snap IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear sites.
Spokesman Hosseini said that Iran would be ready to talk to other states over the nuclear dispute as well but insisted that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should be the main basis for any talks.
According to the NPT, Iran is as a signatory entitled to pursue civil nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment.
The main Western demand of Tehran is suspension of its uranium enrichment process or else face a third UN resolution and financial sanctions.
Tehran has so far rejected this demand. ( Dpa )