TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Iran's foreign minister vowed Tuesday the country will never suspend uranium enrichment as talks on U.N. sanctions were set for Thursday.
Speaking in Tehran, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the precondition sought by the West before resuming talks was futile, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not surrender the nation's right to access nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," he said.
Elsewhere in the city, Iranian Vice President Parviz Dawoodi said Iran will soon be making industrial use of nuclear energy, the FARS news agency reported.
"Iran is now one of the seven established nuclear states and the big powers are now obliged to deal with Iran as a country which is insistent on pursuing its nuclear goals," Dawoodi said.
The remarks came a day after diplomats from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States along with Germany met in London to discuss sanctions.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the six parties would resume talks Thursday by telephone "to hammer out the elements of a U.N. sanctions resolution," the Alalam news service said.
