MADRID, October 3. /TASS/. Tehran has never sought to use nuclear energy for non-peaceful purposes, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi said in a statement.
According to him, "Iran has been the object of monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) much longer than any other country." The minister noted in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais that Iran had never sought "to use the nuclear issue for non-peaceful purposes." "If it (Iran - TASS) wanted that, it would have done so a while ago," Salehi added.
"For us, moving towards [making] a nuclear bomb is completely prohibited from the moral, religious and legal perspectives," he emphasized.
When asked why Iran was enriching uranium to such a high level if it did not plan to create a nuclear bomb, Salehi said: "We wanted to make the Western world understand that we are capable of doing that, but we don’t want that. Unfortunately, our voice has not been heard," the minister explained. He added that it would be possible to discuss the details of Iran’s nuclear program "as part of dialogue that would create opportunities for both parties." "When we promised to enrich uranium to just 3%, dialogue was underway, but it was believed to be our maximum, and no one offered us better conditions," Salehi pointed out.
Five rounds of talks on the Iran nuclear issue ended without result in 2025 due to the launch of Israel’s military operation against Iran and subsequent US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.