( Irna ) - Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani warned on Thursday that Iran would take a "more giant stride" in its nuclear program if facing a third sanction by the United Nations.
Larijani issued the warning in an interview with the English- language weekly Newsweek prior to his meeting with the European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Portugal on Saturday.
"What would be the benefit? Have the past two resolutions impeded our activities?" Larijani was quoted as saying one day before another round of talks with the UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
"They can pass another resolution, and we would make another, longer stride. So they cannot solve the Iranian nuclear case," he said.
Larijani said the stride would not necessarily mean accelerating the uranium-enrichment program.
"We don't see a need for a higher degree of enrichment. Because our basic theory is to (create civilian nuclear) fuel. And we don't need higher (weapons) grades of enrichment," he told the magazine.
Larijani said that his talks with Solana in Lisbon Saturday would address "meticulous expert-level work done on the ideas so far being introduced," involving increased surveillance of Iranian nuclear facilities by the IAEA.
"What is important here is that Iran's logic dictates that we do accept the supervision of the agency," he said.