Tehran, Sep 22 (IANS): Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Sunday urged the West to accept his country's nuclear enrichment right.
"Enrichment inside Iran and within international rules and conventions should be endorsed" by Western powers, said Rouhani at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, .
Making the remark, the president reasserted Iran's long time position that nuclear enrichment was the "inalienable right" of the country, reported Xinhua.
President Rouhani is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly Tuesday in New York on a number of issues, including the sensitive nuclear programme.
He said Iran has no intention to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and was pursuing social and economic development instead.
The Islamic republic was not a threat to any country, he added.
Earlier, Rouhani had said that, under his administration, the Islamic republic would "interact constructively" with the world and would be "more transparent" over its nuclear activities.