Iran has a legal right to pursue nuclear technology, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying yesterday.
The West suspects Tehran is developing its nuclear programme to produce atomic weapons, but Iran says it is only pursuing a means to produce electricity for civilian needs.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Tehran has defied UN resolutions calling on it to suspend uranium enrichment, and Mr Ahmadinejad yesterday rejected the idea of holding talks on the issue.
"It is meaningless to hold talks over Iran's obvious and legal right to nuclear technology," the news agency ISNA quoted him as saying.
On Wednesday, US President George W. Bush said Washington had made it clear to Iran that negotiations were possible if it shut down the programme, although last month US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she did not expect any talks soon.
Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran was not seeking dialogue. "We have never asked for holding talks with America. Talks can be held only if America changes its behaviour fundamentally," he said, according to the agency. "We should set conditions for talks, not Bush."
The UN Security Council has imposed two series of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme and Washington is pushing hard for a third.
However, major powers have agreed to hold off until November to await a report by European Union negotiator Javier Solana and to see whether Iran, under a pact with the UN nuclear watchdog, explains the scope of its activities.