Tehran praises EU resistance against US sanction plans on Iran

Aug 5, 2007, 7:55 GMT

Tehran - Iran on Sunday praised the resistance by some European Union member states against United States plans for sanctions against Iran due to the Islamic state's controversial nuclear programmes.

'This shows the EU's realistic and logical approach towards Iran,' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said in a press conference in Tehran.

EU member states, including France, Germany and Britain have protested against US Congress plans to mandate sanctions on energy companies which have invested more than 20 million dollars in projects in Iran.

'We hope that the EU would continue this trend in preventing the US from implementing its unilateral policies in the (Middle East) region,' the Iranian spokesman said.

Referring to an interview by Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani with the German weekly Focus, Hosseini said that remarks attributed by the weekly to Larijani about Iran eventually considering suspension of uranium enrichment were incorrect.

'I personally talked to Mr Larijani and he said that his remarks were not properly reflected and he actually said that suspension would be totally unacceptable,' the spokesman said.

Hosseini once again reiterated that Iran's nuclear programmes were for civil and peaceful purposes only and further voiced Tehran's interest in holding talks with the five United Nations Security Council member states plus Germany in order to reach a settlement.

The spokesman however said that such talks should be held without any preconditions such as enrichment suspension.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the past week told Algerian reporters in Tehran that he would not withdraw even one inch from Iran's right to pursue civil nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment.