Iran seeks nuclear agreement

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran is set to seek "common ground" with Western powers over its nuclear enrichment program.

After a meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in Geneva on July 19, Britain, the US, Russia, China, France and Germany proposed incentives for Tehran to freeze its program.

Western officials said Tehran had two weeks to reply to an offer of a halt to more UN sanctions if Iran froze the expansion of its nuclear program. That would give Iran until Saturday to reply.

Mr Ahmadinejad said progress would depend on the sincerity of a new US shift in its approach to Tehran.

"They submitted a package and we responded by submitting our own package," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"It's very natural. In the first steps, we are going to negotiate over the common ground as they exist inside the two packages. If the two parties succeed in agreeing over the common ground, that will help us to work on our differences as well, to reach an agreement."

Mr Ahmadinejad denied Iran was working to produce a bomb.

Iran has so far ruled out a freeze to start preliminary talks or suspension of enrichment to start formal negotiations on the incentives package.

In a policy shift, a US diplomat attended the Geneva talks, which Iran claimed was a success for them.

Mr Ahmadinejad said: "The main question here is whether this approach is a continuation of the old approach or is it a totally new approach.

"If this is the continuation of the old process, the Iranian people need to defend their right, its interests as well.

"But if the approach changes, we will be facing a new situation and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one."

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