Rohani's UN Visit, An Opportunity For Int'l Dialog: MP

Maragheh, E.Azarbaijan Prov, Sept 22, IRNA – Lawmaker Mehdi Davatgari said on Sunday that President Hassan Rohani’s visit to New York for participation in the United Nations General Assembly meeting provides an opportunity for resumption of international talks to settle the dispute over Iran’s nuclear issue based on the general policies of the Islamic system of government. Davatgari, a member of Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Commission, told IRNA that the President and the West should seize the opportunity to find a negotiated end to the dispute. He called President Rohani an expert on foreign diplomacy who had undertaken key posts in the past three decades. He called on the President to do his best to lift illegal sanctions imposed on Iran and protect the legitimate rights of the Iranian nation to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in an interview with NBC News aired Wednesday night that his country would never seek nuclear weapons. Reaching out to an American audience from his presidential compound in Tehran days before his visit to New York, Rohani said he had “full authority” to resolve issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. “Under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we,” Rohani told Ann Curry of NBC News adding, “We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb, and we are not going to do so.” He reiterated Iran’s longstanding position that its uranium enrichment and related programs are for peaceful purposes./end