Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Tuesday that Iran would resume nuclear talks with France, Germany and the UK in mid-July, the official IRNA news agency reported.  

"The three European countries were to announce their readiness for the talks last week but failed to arrange it," Kharrazi was quoted as saying.

Kharrazi reiterated that Iran's nuclear technology is peaceful.

"We will not compromise our right for peaceful use of nuclear energy and what has been done so far is solely for the purpose of confidence-building," he said.

Kharrazi also noted the project on uranium enrichment resumption approved by the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament (NSFPCP).

"The government has suspended the project for a period of time to develop confidence-building. However, we are determined to make peaceful use of nuclear energy," he stressed.

NSFPCP on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the resumption of uranium enrichment activities.

Iran suspended uranium enrichment last October, but it held that the suspension was a voluntary move to build confidence between Tehran and the international community, which did not incur any legal obligations.

The resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency on June 18 dissatisfied Iran, who therefore threatened the resumption of uranium enrichment.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2004)