Iran’s vice president says it won’t waver from its nuclear programme

MOSCOW (Reuters): Iranian Vice President Mohammad Eslami said on Thursday that Tehran would continue to pursue its nuclear programme, which he said was open to international scrutiny.

“Iran’s path and the Iranian programme are completely transparent, and we will not deviate from it. You know that the most stringent inspections are conducted in Iran,” Eslami, who is also Iran’s nuclear chief, said via a translator.

He was addressing a nuclear forum in Moscow.

Russia has close ties with Iran and supports its right to peaceful nuclear energy. Moscow condemned attacks on Iranian nuclear sites by Israel and the U.S. earlier this year.

Western governments accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, which Tehran denies.