'Iran will not abandon nuclear rights'

Iran says it will not compromise on its “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear technology, reiterating Tehran's adamancy to international commitments.“Iran will not back off on its inalienable nuclear rights and will not neglect its international commitments,” Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said during a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger on Tuesday, IRNA reported.Salehi highlighted Iran's efforts o alleviate the West's alleged concerns over US-led allegations that the Islamic Republic might have military objectives in its nuclear program.“Iran's nuclear case has reached a stage that has made everyone tired,” the Iranian minister said.“The Islamic Republic has time and again announced formally that it remains adamant to its commitments under NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) statute, and that it insists on its own rights as much,” he added.Salehi, who earlier met with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano in Vienna, called for an acceleration of the process the agency and Tehran have started and urged the establishment of a new mechanism within their agreed framework to resolve the West's standoff with Iran over its nuclear program.Iran insists that as a member of the IAEA and a signatory to NPT, it has a right to use the peaceful applications of nuclear energy for electricity generation and medical research.In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards military purposes.