Iran has again rejected freezing uranium enrichment as a precondition for talks but held out the possibility that negotiations on its nuclear programme could result in such a moratorium.
"Iran considers the suspension of uranium enrichment not as a precondition for talks, but in the best case as a result of the talks," Javad Vaeidi, deputy head of Iran's National Security Council and the country's deputy nuclear negotiator, said in a translated copy of a speech he delivered in Vienna on Thursday.
"Negotiation without preconditions is the only way to a peaceful settlement of the crisis, which Iran and the EU 3 are both concerned about," the translation of the speech read.
Vaeidi, who noted he was speaking not as an official but as a political researcher, made his comments at an event affiliated with Austria's right-wing Freedom Party. A German copy of the speech was made available to participants afterward.
Vaeidi, who addressed a packed room through a translator, said during the question and answer period that negotiations were not a place for "take it or leave it confrontations."
Achieving nuclear technology for Iran for peaceful purposes were "based on a realistic need," Vaeidi said, adding later, "We're not as stupid so as to go after a nuclear bomb."
He also said Iran was asking for more time to look over a proposal of incentives to roll back its nuclear programme in order to maximize its chances of success.
{{/usCountry}}He also said Iran was asking for more time to look over a proposal of incentives to roll back its nuclear programme in order to maximize its chances of success.
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