(RIA Novosti) - Iran will not suspend its uranium enrichment program and will continue its nuclear research despite numerous warnings of sanctions against the Islamic republic, the speaker of the Iranian parliament said Wednesday.
Last week, the United States and Britain renewed their calls for international sanctions against Iran after talks between the country's key nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana failed to produce any breakthrough, reports Trend.
"Iran will continue its nuclear activity," Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel said. "We have never suspended uranium enrichment, and we do not intend to do so in the future."
He also said any demands for sanctions against Iran hampered the negotiation process between the country and the EU, and reiterated Iran's willingness to continue talks with the international community.
"We are for a dialogue, but openly declare that those who attempt to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem through threats will never gain anything," the Iranian official said.
The six powers mediating the Iranian nuclear issue, the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, have been trying to persuade Iran to accept a package of incentives, and suspend uranium enrichment, which many countries believe is the beginning of an Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Deputy foreign ministers of the Iran-six mediators will discuss the Iranian issue in a video conference Wednesday, and will forward their conclusions to their representatives at the UN Security Council in preparation of a draft resolution on Iran.