Brussels, 29/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - Iran indicated on Sunday that it does not see the EU3 group of countries (Germany, France and the UK) as its only partner in negotiations over its nuclear programme, with a spokesperson for the Iranian foreign minister, Hamid Reza Assefi, saying on Sunday that Iran would continue to negotiate with the EU3 but would not restrict its negotiations to these three countries alone. Confirming recent statements by Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani (see EUROPE 9014), the spokesperson explained that Teheran had indeed been in contact with South Africa, Japan and Malaysia. Assefi warned that if Europeans were unable to respect their commitments, Iran was entitled to negotiate with other countries, and would do so. He accused the EU of failing to recognise Iran's right to organise nuclear combustion. On Saturday, Larijani again called for diplomatic efforts by certain non-aligned countries like China and Russia on the governing council of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) not to be sidelined. On Friday, the French foreign minister said that the EU3 was not acting in isolation on the Iranian issue but was operating within a framework established by the IAEA Director Mohamed El Baradei, who is due to submit a decisive report on 3 September about whether to continue negotiating with Iran. Assefi said that the forthcoming proposals to be unveiled by Mahmoud Admadinejad would preserve Iran's right to organise nuclear combustion and include objective guarantees that Teheran is not attempting to produce nuclear weapons.