US must accept nuclear Iran: Larijani

Iran’s Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States must accept the Islamic Republic as a country possessing peaceful nuclear program.
“Iran will study Russia’s step-by-step proposal regarding the nuclear issue, but Americans must realize they are facing a country that possesses the knowledge of peaceful nuclear energy,” Mehr News Agency quoted Larijani as saying on Sunday.

On 13 July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed a new “step-by-step” approach that would enable Iran to take steps to address questions raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding its nuclear program.

According to the proposal, Iran can resume negotiations to alleviate the individual concerns of IAEA members about its nuclear activities and be rewarded along the way by a partial removal of sanctions.

On August 24, Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Seyyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi said the Islamic Republic has accepted Russia’s proposal in principle.

“US President [Barack Obama] called for a nuclear fuel swap through Turkey’s Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] and Brazil’s former president [Lula da Silva],” Larijani said.

The top Iranian official added that after Iran reached an agreement with Turkey and Brazil, the US suddenly shifted toward imposing sanctions against Tehran.

In June 2010, the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of US-engineered sanctions on Iran on June ۹ over its nuclear program, while the United States and the European Union have leveled unilateral measures against the country.

Iran says that as a member of the IAEA and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the right to the peaceful applications of nuclear technology for electricity generation and medical research.