Iran's supreme leader says his country will not give up its "nuclear rights" in speech ahead of talks with world powers.
Iran's supreme leader has said his country will continue to exercise its "nuclear rights" in a speech ahead of crucial talks in Geneva over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
In a rare, live televised address on Wednesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told commanders of the Basij force, a volunteer militia of young Iranians, that there would be no retreat for his country.
"I insist on stabilising the rights of the Iranian nation, including the nuclear rights," he said. "I insist on not retreating one step from the rights of the Iranian nation."
He said Iran's negotiators "must respect these limits" when talking about the nuclear programme with "enemies and opponents".
His comments came hours before diplomats from the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany opened a new round of talks in Geneva with Iranian negotiators - the third set in a little over a month. They lasted 10 minutes and were introductory, diplomats said.
Iran has signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which affords nations the right to civilian nuclear technology in exchange for not acquiring nuclear weapons. However, Iran has been judged by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, to be in breach of its agreements for infringements such as not disclosing its activities and not allowing full inspections.
The UN Security Council has in return imposed sanctions on Iran, crippling its economy. The Geneva talks are aimed at agreeing concessions from Iran on its nuclear activities in return for the easing of sanctions. At the heart of the disagreements are Iran's continued enrichment of uranium to near a "weapons-useable" threshold, and work on its Arak heavy water reactor, which would produce plutonium, which can be used in a future nuclear bomb.
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