“A few days ago a letter was sent to Mrs. Ashton by [the secretary of Iran´s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed] Jalili,” Salehi said in Bushehr on Sunday.

He made the remarks during a joint press conference with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko.

In the letter, Iran said that it has always been ready to hold talks on common ground in order to reach an understanding, Salehi added.

"We have received the letter, and we will study it carefully," Reuters quoted a spokesman for Ashton as saying on Sunday.

Multifaceted talks between Iran and the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany -- were resumed in Geneva in December 2010 after a hiatus of more than a year.

The second round of negotiations was held in Istanbul in January 2011.

On September 5, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Fereydoun Abbasi said Iran is ready to give the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) full supervision over the country´s nuclear activities if the “sanctions [imposed on Tehran] are lifted and mutual obligations are met.”

On Monday, Iran officially launched the Bushehr power plant, ending the countdown for the inauguration of the country´s first nuclear plant.

The Bushehr power plant will initially generate electricity at 40 percent of its capacity. The plant is scheduled to be operating at its full capacity of 1000 megawatts in about two months.

The US and its allies have repeatedly accused Iran of having a clandestine nuclear weapons program and have used their influence on the UN Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran.

However, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran´s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran´s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

Iranian officials say that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, Tehran has the right to use nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes

End.
Last Updated: 13 September 2011