Ahmadinejad: Iran will consider atomic proposals

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will soon deliver the proposals agreed by the US, Russian, British, German, French and Chinese foreign ministers in Vienna on Thursday.

"We will not pass judgment on the proposals hastily," Ahmadinejad told a crowd at the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual father of the 1979 Islamic revolution, saying the package would receive due consideration.

"But using nuclear technology for production of nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes is part of our legal and certain rights and we will never negotiate on that with anybody," he added.

Ahmadinejad talking at Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's tomb (Photo: AFP)

The West has demanded that Tehran give up uranium enrichment as proof that it is not developing nuclear weapons.

The incentives being offered by the six powers were still not known, but diplomats have been working on themes ranging from offering nuclear reactors to giving security guarantees.

No date has been announced for Solana to present the incentives to Iranian officials, but he plans to be in the Middle East on Sunday and Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on state television: "We believe if ... there's goodwill then there's a possibility that our ideas may complete the proposal and give them (Westerners) a way out of the situation they have created for themselves."

However, he added: "The main pillar of the talks is that they should be free from preconditions."

'No preconditions'

Iranian politicians habitually use the word "precondition" for demands that Iran end its fuel work. Mottaki and Ahmadinejad have said there is no question of this, insisting on a right to make fuel for power generation.

Ahmadinejad on Friday told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Iran was willing to negotiate on nuclear issues as long as talks had no "preconditions of threats," state media reported.

Washington says this must not be seen as a final rejection, and that Iran could be staking out a negotiating position.

Iran has a labyrinthine command structure and comments from the president and the foreign minister may not be the last word on political matters.

Iran's main authority is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council, headed by chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is directly charged with handling the nuclear dispute.

Analysts see the proposals from the world powers and a rare U.S. offer to enter into direct talks with Iran as attempts to build a united diplomatic front for possible later action in the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions.

In a statement, the Vatican said on Saturday diplomacy was the only way to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

"The Holy See is firmly convinced that even the present difficulties can and must be overcome through diplomatic contacts, using all the means diplomacy has at its disposal," it said.