No compromise on Iran nuclear issue: Iran cleric

“Any proposal which denies the [Iranian] people their rights is dismissed by the nation and no official has the right to compromise in this regard,” Tehran’s Interim Friday Prayers Leader Hojjatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi said.

Seddiqi also pointed to the recent meeting held between Iran and the world powers of the P5+1 group — the US, Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — in the Kazakh city of Almaty, noting that the Islamic Republic maintains its firm stance on nuclear energy program.

“Iran had offered a five-point proposal to the P5+1 countries in the Moscow meeting [held in June 2012] which was examined in this [Almaty] meeting,” the Iranian cleric added.

He went on to say that the P5+1 group adopted a “better and more realistic” stance in the recent meeting with Iran on February 26 and 27.

Seddiqi further pointed out that the Iranian nation considers the development of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes as its inalienable right.

Iran and the P5+1 group have held several rounds of talks with the main focus on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran refutes the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted toward military objectives.