Iran is ready to show flexibility at nuclear talks to ease Western concerns over its contentious nuclear program, its foreign ministry spokesman says, as tensions rise in the standoff between the Islamic Republic, Israel and the West.
The remarks by Ramin Mehmanparast, published by the official IRNA news agency on Saturday, underscore Tehran's push to resume talks with world powers as Western sanctions squeeze the economy tighter and the European Union weighs a boycott of Iranian natural gas.
"Iran is ready to show flexibility to remove concerns within a legal framework but such measures should be reciprocal," Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.
"The other party needs to take measures to fully recognise Iran's nuclear rights and Iran's enrichment for peaceful purposes."
The five members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany and Iran, aim to resume high-level talks that were suspended in June.
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The countries want the Islamic Republic to stop enriching uranium to 20 per cent purity because at that level the material can be quickly turned into fuel for nuclear weapons.
Iran has indicated it is ready to stop the higher enrichment if sanctions are lifted and its right to enrich is recognised. The US and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies.
Earlier, the country's supreme leader said Iran would defeat its adversaries, who he said are using a combination of sanctions, military threats and clandestine operations in an attempt to make Tehran back down on its nuclear program.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks follow a precipitous decline in the country's currency linked to economic sanctions imposed by the West, as well as remarks by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta highlighting the possibility of a cyberwar between Iran and the United States.
"We should not neglect the enemy. The enemy enters through various ways. One day it's talk of sanctions. Another day it's talk of military aggression. And one day, it's talk of soft war ... We have to be vigilant," state TV quoted Khamenei as saying during a speech in the northeast.
Western powers are pursuing a two-pronged strategy that includes a mix of sanctions and diplomacy to try to force Tehran to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or materials for use in a warhead.
But the West has not ruled out the possibility of military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, and Panetta made a pointed warning on Thursday that Washington will strike back against a cyberattack.
Tehran for its part has announced the discovery of computer viruses at nuclear, industrial and government sites. It blames the West and Israel. Israel has said little to deflect suspicion that it tries to infect some Iranian systems.
