(RIA Novosti) - Iran is ready to start talking to the United States, but refuses to stop work on uranium enrichment, the country's foreign minister said Thursday.
"We will not give up our inalienable right [to enrichment] and this topic is not up for discussion. But we are prepared to discuss mutual concerns," Manouchehr Mottaki told a press conference in the Iranian capital, reports Trend.
"The United States needs to change its attitude if it wants to establish new relations with Iran," the minister said.
He added that a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday was illogical and contained no new possible solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
Rice said that the U.S. proposal to take part in EU3 negotiations with Iran did not mean that U.S. President George Bush had ruled out a military solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.