Iran rules out North Korea model

After North Korea signed an agreement to end its nuclear weapons program, Iran issued a swift statement dashing hopes that negotiations and sanctions could cause Tehran to follow Pyongyang's path.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said Tuesday that "Tehran will never agree to suspend its peaceful nuclear activities," the Fars News Agency reported. 

"The issue of suspension is not acceptable under any conditions," Hosseini added.

Iran's Parliament Speaker, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, declared that "Iranians insisted on their nuclear right during Sunday's nationwide rallies. In fact, the nation echoed the joint stance of the Majlis (Iranian parliament) and the government on the country's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy."

Peres: Same can happen in Iran

Seemingly unaware of Iran's preemptive disassociation with the North Korean precedent, Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Israel's Army Radio station that he hoped "economic sanctions can really be effective, as evidenced by the North Korea’s policy change."

"In my opinion, if there should be a serious coalition that imposes economic sanctions, the same thing can happen with Iran," Peres said.

In recent days, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has lowered the levels of incitement and hateful rhetoric against Israel and the West, in what some experts say is an attempt to play for time and delay further sanctions.

The Iranian president also failed to deliver a promised announcement on his country's nuclear program on February 11, promising instead that news on the program would be released within the next two months.

Despite lowering his voice in recent days, Ahmadinejad's call for a "referendum" of Israelis and Palestinian to "decide the fate of the area" has been described by observers as being a rehashed backing of Hamas' "right of return" doctrine - which amounts to a call for Israel to be flooded with millions of Palestinians from abroad.

AP contributed to the report