Ahmadinejad vowed not to yield 'an inch' on its nuke programme despite the reopening of talks with the European Union to find a solution to the standoff.
TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Wednesday that Iran would not yield "an inch" on its nuclear programme despite the reopening of talks with the European Union to find a solution to the standoff.
"We do not ask for an inch more than our rights and we will not yield an inch on our nuclear rights," said Ahmadinejad in a speech to crowds of supporters at a stadium in the southern city of Kerman.
"We will resist until the end against those who want to violate our rights and will cut the hand of aggressors.
"Iran possesses the nuclear fuel cycle at the industrial level and we want to use all the capacities of nuclear energy," he added in the speech broadcast live on state television.
The speech, which marked the start of Ahmadinejad's latest provincial tour, was punctuated by cries of "Death to America" and "Nuclear Energy is our Natural Right" from the faithful.
The comments represent Iran's latest reaffirmation of its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment activities in defiance of UN calls for Tehran to suspend the sensitive process.
The enrichment of uranium is hugely sensitive because it can be used both to make nuclear fuel and the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
The United States accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons but Tehran insists that it wants only to produce energy for a growing population.
Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met last week for talks in Turkey in their first meeting since February.
Larijani said afterwards that the two sides were heading towards a "united view" and the men are expected to meet again in the coming weeks.
Diplomats from the five veto-wielding permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany were to meet in London later Wednesday to discuss their next moves.
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