Iran said on Tuesday it would not give up its nuclear programme in return for economic and political incentives, the official IRNA news agency said. Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi reiterated that Iran's nuclear programme would be used to generate electricity and not make bombs, as Washington charges. "Iran's legitimate right of having nuclear technology can not be exchanged for any kind of incentives," IRNA quoted Kharrazi as saying. Kharrazi said Iran was determined to go ahead with its nuclear activities. "It is not the right of our government to swap it. It is the Iranian nation's right," Kharrazi said. "The Iranian nation would never allow giving up the country's nuclear programme." Inducements proposed by European officials included letting Iran eventually join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and providing Tehran with an Airbus airliner. Kharrazi said Iran would review progress in the talks in mid-March before taking any decision on whether to resume uranium enrichment which it froze in November. "We want to reach a formula which removes the Europeans' concerns and at the same time preserves our rights," Kharrazi said.
