Ahead of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, The Financial Times quoted senior Iranian officials as saying that the speech is set to offer international joint ventures in Iran’s atomic programme as a means of providing an ‘‘objective guarantee’’ that the technology cannot be diverted to weapons use. ‘‘Iran will invite Europe, Russia, China and South Africa to joint ventures in which Iran keeps its nuclear fuel cycle while the international community can make sure there is no diversion,’’ a senior official involved in two years of talks with the European Union on Iran’s nuclear programme was quoted as saying. In Tehran, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) spokesman, Ali Aghamohammadi, told reporters that US President George W. Bush’s comments this week underlining Iran’s right to a nuclear energy programme have given Iran’s talks with the EU a fresh impetus. “Bush's speech has provided the Europeans with the space they needed to continue talks with Iran,” he said. “It was an obvious retreat from his past stances, thus paving the way for further negotiations.” Commenting on Ahmadinejad’s meeting with the EU3’s foreign ministers, Aghamohammadi said, “The Europeans know that we haven't been planning to defeat Europe I think the talks (with the EU trio) will be resumed,” t He declined to discuss Ahmadinejad's UN address, but noted that Iran had previously invited other countries to participate in its nuclear programme to ensure it remained peaceful. “I believe his offer will be considerable and they (the West) will not be able to just ignore it,” he said. But chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani made it clear in New York that Iran was not prepared to give up what it considers its right to develop a full nuclear cycle. “Iran welcomes talks, but they should not to turn confidence building into a tool to deprive Iran of its right to nuclear technology," he said.
