Brussels, 08/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - The day before the third session of in camera talks between European and Iranian experts in Geneva this week (see EUROPE of 8 February, p.5), Iranian Defence Minister Ali Chamkhani asserted on Monday that Iran was not seeking to avail itself of nuclear weapons. “Within the current framework for balancing international forces, the possession of nuclear weapons would be harmful for Iran”, Mr Chamkhani said, cited by the Irna agency. “The problem is that we do have technological know-how and our enemies consider we are seeking to develop nuclear arms. This, however, is not our strategy”, he added. Stressing that Iran has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its additional protocol, Chamkhani explained that all the nuclear sites in Iran were open to the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Teheran gave up the nuclear weapons strategy a long time ago. We do not want nuclear weapons in the Middle East”, he said. Accusing Washington of having helped Israel to possess the atomic bomb, Mr Chamkhani pointed out that the “concerns” of the Iranian authorities on the subject of Israel's nuclear equipment were “included in Iran's programme of talks with its European partners”. While US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continues her tour of the European capitals to discuss the Iranian dossier above all, the spokesperson for the Iranian government, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, cited by Irna, accused the United States of wanting to “sabotage talks on the nuclear option between Teheran and the European Union”.