"We are not developing weapons of mass destruction. Our activities are transparent," Asefi

TEHRAN, September 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iran will not compromise on its right to nuclear technology or to conduct uranium enrichment, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday, September 28, while asserting Tehran was not developing weapons of mass destruction.

"Renouncing nuclear technology or enrichment is not something that Iran will accept a compromise on," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi as telling reporters.

"We are not developing weapons of mass destruction. Our activities are transparent," he added, reacting to weekend statements warning Iran by U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Saturday, September 27, Putin said a "clear but respectful signal" should be sent to Iran about the need to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its nuclear facilities.

Bush, for his part, called on Tehran to come clean on its nuclear programs and said "it is in our national interests to make sure that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon."

The IAEA has given Iran until October 31 to answer all its questions concerning allegations that the Islamic republic is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

Iran announced Saturday that an IAEA delegation is to arrive on Thursday, October 2, for further talks on the country's nuclear program, the BBC News Online reported.

The visit had been planned to take place nearly a week earlier but was postponed at Iran's request.

The United States is pressing Russia not to sign an accord which would allow Iran's first nuclear power plant -- being built by Russia -- to go online.

Ongoing Cooperation

But Putin told Bush that Russia would go forward with its nuclear cooperation with Tehran to help it build its nuclear reactor.

Speaking at a press conference with Bush in the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, Putin asserted that Russia would not terminate a $800 million commercial nuclear contract with Iran, according to the New York Times. 

"As to the joint work, we are ready to pursue it," Putin told reporters, giving no details and immediately moved into a discussion of Iraq.  

On September 24, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said his country wanted to produce enriched uranium to avoid reliance on supplies of nuclear fuel from Russia.

"It's a matter of national pride to have this capability, this technology especially when it's produced domestically. This does not mean that producing (nuclear) weapons will be on our agenda," he said.

IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei said last month that international inspectors had found traces of highly enriched uranium at Iran's nuclear facility at Natanz, 180 miles (290 kilometers) south of Tehran.