Iranian MP: Tehran always Ready for Dialogue with West

Iranian Parliament's presiding board member Abdolreza Mesri said that the West must acknowledge that the sanctions against the Islamic Republic were wrong from the very basis, and added that Iran has always been open to dialogue over its nuclear energy program.

The lawmaker added that if the Western powers either cannot or do not want to appreciate Iran's steadfast policies, "that is their own problem".

Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive to produce electricity so that the world's fourth-largest crude exporter can sell more of its oil and gas abroad. Tehran also stresses that the country is pursuing a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

The US and its western allies allege that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program while they have never presented corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations against the Islamic Republic.

Iran is under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment, saying the demand is politically tainted and illogical.

Iran has so far ruled out halting or limiting its nuclear work in exchange for trade and other incentives, saying that renouncing its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) would encourage the world powers to put further pressure on the country and would not lead to a change in the West's hardliner stance on Tehran.

Iran held an "intense" round of talks with six world powers about its nuclear program in Moscow in June. The talks in the Russian capital followed two rounds of negotiations since diplomacy resumed in April after a 15-month hiatus during which the West cranked up sanctions pressure.

Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted on an easing of sanctions and an acknowledgment of the country's right to enrich uranium, conditions that the United States and the EU have not accepted.
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