Iran not to retreat one iota from rights: Ahmadinejad

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has once again stressed Tehran’s resolve to retain its nuclear rights, ahead of a fresh round of multifaceted talks between the Islamic Republic and the world’s six major powers (P5+1).

“The Iranian nation is standing firm on its basic rights and will not retreat an iota from its inalienable rights even under the harshest pressures,” said the president in the southern Iranian city of Minab on Thursday.

“On behalf of the Iranian nation, I advise the hegemonic powers and enemies to modify their attitude towards this nation, and know that Iranians are standing firm in defending their rights,” he added.

Iran and the P5+1 — Russia, China, Britain, France, the US and Germany – have agreed to hold the first round of multifaceted talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday, April 14.

The second round of the negotiations will be held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, but the time will be announced at the end of the Istanbul meeting.

Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have held two rounds of talks, one in Geneva in December 2010 and another in Istanbul in January 2011.

Tehran has repeatedly made it clear that it will not negotiate over any of its fundamental rights.

Iran maintains that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to acquire and develop nuclear technology for peaceful objectives.