DHAKA: Iranian president Hassan Rohani said Sunday that any deal with the West would have to recognise Iran’s right to enrich uranium, as a record number of Iranian missiles capable of striking Israel were displayed at a military parade.

The new Iranian president said on Sunday that Tehran was ready for negotiations with Western powers provided they set no pre-conditions.

Rohani spoke about negotiations with the West when addressing the military parade on Sunday to commemorate the annual ‘Sacred Defence Week’.

‘In these talks all the rights of Iran, including nuclear and enrichment rights on our own territory should be accepted within the framework of international law,’ he said, according to state news agency IRNA, reports The Jerusalem Post.

Rohani also paid homage to Iran’s armed forces and indicated that the country would not forget about the suffering former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein imposed on Iran, and his backing from Arab and Western states.

Iran displayed 30 missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometres at the parade, media reported.

The range would put both Israel and US bases in the Persian Gulf in range.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said that the handover of control of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant from Russian technicians to Iranians would begin Monday.

Iran’s Press TV quoted Salehi as saying the plant would remain under Russian warranty for a period of two years while it’s operated solely by Iranian technicians, after which it will pass to complete Iranian control.

Tehran repeatedly has rejected safety concerns about the reactor, which began operations in 2011 after decades of delays. Iran and the Russian company that built Bushehr said it was not affected by a nearby earthquake in April.

BDST: 1641 HRS, SEPT 22, 2013
RoR/RK