(RIA Novosti) - Iran is ready to start talks on suspending its uranium enrichment program, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. The Islamic Republic has been under international pressure since it resumed uranium enrichment in January 2006, which some Western countries suspect is part of a covert nuclear weapons program. Tehran has always denied the claims, and says it needs nuclear power for civilian purposes. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently stated its readiness to discuss various issues through negotiations, even the issue of suspending work on uranium enrichment," Foreign Ministry's spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said. In response to Iran's unwillingness to forgo its nuclear ambitions, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1737 last December, which provided for sanctions against Iran banning activities involving uranium enrichment, chemical reprocessing, heavy water-based projects, and the production of nuclear weapons delivery systems.
Foreign ministers of 27 EU countries unanimously supported the UN resolution during a meeting in Brussels January 22. Tehran responded to the resolution by saying it would review its cooperation with the IAEA and on January 23 barred 38 IAEA experts from inspecting Iran's nuclear facilities. The IAEA is expected to file a new report on Iran's nuclear program February 23.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that another session of the Iran-6 mediation group on Tehran's controversial nuclear program could take place before the international nuclear watchdog submits a report to the UN Security Council. The six negotiators on Iran's nuclear program include Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and China. Iran insists its nuclear problem is "fully politicized," but that it is prepared for fair negotiations on its uranium enrichment without preconditions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday.