TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that he was not asking for talks with the United States but they would be possible if Washington changed its policy toward Tehran, the official website reported.
Referring to last week's comment by US President George W Bush of Washington's willingness to negotiate with Iran if it suspended its nuclear programme, Ahmadinejad responded, "we firstly say that we never asked for negotiations with the United States. Negotiations with the US will happen when the US government applies basic changes in its behaviour and attitude."
"Setting conditions is our right since we have been worrying about your atomic bombs as well as the warmongersstanding beside them," Ahmadinejad was quoted by the website as saying on Sunday.
He reiterated that Iran was ready to negotiate any individual and country except its arch foe, Israel.
Regarding Iran's disputed nuclear activities Ahmadinejad said his country was ready for negotiation over mutual cooperation "but we do consider it meaningless to talk over nuclear rights of Iranian nation."
Iran's comments come less than a week after Bush told a group of businessmen and women in Pennsylvania that he would negotiate with Iran if it suspended its nuclear programme -- something Iran has repeatedly refused to do.
Bush also made similar comments in an interview aired on Friday on Al-Arabiya TV.
Earlier yesterday in the same context Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters, "Iran is ready for talks in a just, unconditional manner with mutual respect."
