Iran wants nuclear rights guarantees

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear program with multilateral negotiators provided its rights are guaranteed, the Iranian foreign minister said Friday.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic Republic's former nuclear negotiator, said he may be willing to discuss Iran's nuclear program with members of the international community.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said this week there may be a military dimension to certain aspects of Iran's nuclear program. As a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran says the program is meant for peaceful purposes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said from the sidelines of a regional economic summit in Kyrgyzstan the Tehran government was ready to meet with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany to discuss nuclear issues.

"We will enter negotiations to settle the nuclear issue within a definite time framework if our rights are guaranteed," he was quoted by state-funded broadcaster Press TV as saying.

Rouhani is scheduled to deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly when it meets for its annual summit in New York later this month. The Iranian government said there are no plans to meet with U.S. officials there.

Two rounds of multilateral talks in Kazakhstan this year were described as amicable, though few breakthroughs were made.