Dubai: President-elect Hassan Rohani said on Monday he hoped the world would grasp a new opportunity for "constructive interaction" with Iran and pledged to be more transparent about the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in order to see sanctions lifted.
But he said Tehran was not ready to suspend its enrichment of uranium, which the West fears is aimed at producing a nuclear weapions capability - something Iran denies. "That period has ended," he said.
Rohani, a moderate conservative cleric, scored an emphatic and surprise election win over conservative rivals on Friday and has quickly moved to assure Iranians and the world that he will keep his pledges of better relations with other countries.
He said the new government, after his inauguration in August, would "revive ethics and constructive interaction with the world through moderation".
"I hope that all countries use this opportunity," Rohani told his first news conference after his election win.
Rohani, Iran's nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, said Tehran would be more transparent about its activities in the future.
"Our nuclear programmes are completely transparent. But we are ready to show greater transparency and make clear for the whole world that the steps of the Islamic Republic of Iran are completely within international frameworks," he said.
But he said Tehran was not ready to suspend its enrichment of uranium, which the West fears is aimed at producing a nuclear weapions capability - something Iran denies. "That period has ended," he said.
Rohani, a moderate conservative cleric, scored an emphatic and surprise election win over conservative rivals on Friday and has quickly moved to assure Iranians and the world that he will keep his pledges of better relations with other countries.
"I hope that all countries use this opportunity," Rohani told his first news conference after his election win.
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"Our nuclear programmes are completely transparent. But we are ready to show greater transparency and make clear for the whole world that the steps of the Islamic Republic of Iran are completely within international frameworks," he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2013
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