Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (file photo)
4 April 2005 -- Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said on a visit to Vienna today that Iran wants to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, not bombs.
Khatami made his remarks after speaking with Austrian President Heinz Fischer in Vienna.
Vienna is home to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA is currently trying to confirm whether Iran has only a peaceful nuclear program.
Khatami also said he condemns the manufacture and use of nuclear weapons.
His remarks come as Britain, France and Germany are negotiating with Iran to give up its uranium enrichment activities in return for help with developing nuclear energy and for economic and security incentives. Uranium enrichment is a process which refines uranium for use as fuel in nuclear reactors or as fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Tehran so far has refused to abandon uranium enrichment, saying it has the right to manufacture reactor fuel. The United States says that Iran is using its nuclear energy program as a cover for developing atomic arms.
Khatami is due in France later today for talks with French President Jacques Chirac.
(dpa/afp/nca)
Vienna is home to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA is currently trying to confirm whether Iran has only a peaceful nuclear program.
Khatami also said he condemns the manufacture and use of nuclear weapons.
His remarks come as Britain, France and Germany are negotiating with Iran to give up its uranium enrichment activities in return for help with developing nuclear energy and for economic and security incentives. Uranium enrichment is a process which refines uranium for use as fuel in nuclear reactors or as fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Tehran so far has refused to abandon uranium enrichment, saying it has the right to manufacture reactor fuel. The United States says that Iran is using its nuclear energy program as a cover for developing atomic arms.
Khatami is due in France later today for talks with French President Jacques Chirac.
(dpa/afp/nca)