Iran on Sunday rejected a deadline set by the European Union (EU) for Iran to clear itself on the nuclear activities, saying it would make no concession on its right of peaceful nuclear technology.  

"We have settled over 95 percent of the issues over Iran's nuclear program, and we believe that the very limited suspended issues will be also resolved," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told reporters at his weekly news briefing.

"The negotiation between the two sides is very good and patient," Asefi said, referring to Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rowhani's visit to the Netherlands, the current holder of the EU presidency.

"We will continue our good cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as Europe although the Unite States tries to prolong the crisis," Asefi said.

"Efforts to prevent Iran's access to peaceful nuclear technology are doomed to fail, for we have already achieved the technology and have peaceful nuclear technology," Asefi added.

As to the EU's new urge to suspend all of the activities related to uranium enrichment, Asefi said, "Iran had not officially announced anything related to the urge to suspend centrifuge part manufacturing. We have more important issues to calculate."

"Iran is going to prove that its nuclear development is completely peaceful. But, we will do nothing beyond this," he said.

Asefi added that developing and using atomic weapons are against Iran's religious doctrines.

"This (prohibition against nuclear weapon development) is a religious decree by the Supreme Leader and no group in the country thinks about achieving such weapons," he said.

Asefi also commented on the IAEA inspectors' frustrated request to probe into the Parchin site, which is located 30 km southwest of Tehran and where various military projects are launched.

"We have held only preliminary talks. These are minor issues," he said.

Earlier in the day, three EU countries, namely France, Germany and Britain had set a November deadline for Iran in a draft resolution submitted to the IAEA.

The IAEA will hold board of governors' meeting in Vienna on Monday to discuss Iran's nuclear issue again.

The Unite States, accusing Iran of secretly developing atomic weapons, is trying to prompt the IAEA to refer Iran's case to the UN Security Council.

Tehran has been consistently denying the US accusation, asserting that it is politically motivated and Iran's nuclear research is fully peaceful.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2004)