Tehran - Iran was prepared for long negotiations with the world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday. Iran is due to meet Thursday in Geneva with the representatives of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, for talks whose agenda was not yet clear because of differences between the two sides.
"We prefer to build up friendship and understanding (with the world powers) and are prepared for long negotiations," Ahmadinejad said on state television.
"But the six countries are free to adopt whatever policies they like. We will not be harmed, anyway," he added.
While describing the talks as an "exceptional opportunity" for the six countries to change their approach towards Iran, the president once again declared Iran's readiness to cooperate with the world powers in tackling global challenges.
The six powers want to focus the talks on Iran's controversial nuclear programmes, but Ahmadinejad has several times said that the nuclear issue would only be discussed with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Iranian president also criticized the West for demanding the IAEA have swift access to the new enrichment site, located 100 kilometres south of Tehran, saying the world powers had no right to make such a demand.
"The era of a few countries making decisions for the rest of the world is definitely over," Ahmadinejad said.
Stressing that Iran was not afraid of further financial sanctions, he said that the country had learned in the last three decades to be self-sufficient and "was therefore prepared for every situation."
The Iranian delegation in Geneva will be led by Saeid Jalili, who is Ahmadinejad's chief nuclear negotiator and secretary of the country's National Security Council.
Jalili said before departing for Geneva that he and his team would enter the talks with good intentions and hoped that the other side would have a positive approach as well.
