TEHRAN – The Iranian foreign minister said here on Saturday that it took Japan many years to build confidence about the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities without being asked to suspend uranium enrichment program and now Iran’s nuclear issue should be handled in the same way.

“Japan spent a considerable number of years to build confidence in the nuclear field and we are making a similar effort,” Manouchehr Mottaki said in a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone.
However, Mottaki said, “During those years Japan was never asked to suspend or freeze its work.” He added all countries working in this field should be treated similar to Japan.
Mottaki reiterated that Iran’s nuclear activities are legal and peaceful.
The U.S. and a few of its European allies have been pressing Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment activities.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is monitoring all the processes of nuclear activities in Iran by installing cameras and making regular inspections.
Saberi verdict
On Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, Mottaki said, “If Ms. Saberi violates the law in Iran it is natural that the country’s judicial system treats her like any other Iranian person.”
Mottaki added that the appeals court will review her case based on “justice and human compassion”.
Saberi, whose press credentials had been revoked in 2006, was sentenced on April 18 to 8 years in jail on charges of spying for U.S. intelligence agencies. She has appealed against her sentence.
Iran’s prosecutor general said on Saturday that the appeals court may change the verdict.
“Roxana Saberi’s verdict has been issued by the court and the there is a likelihood of change in the appeals court,” Qorban-Ali Dori Najaf-Abadi said in Tabriz.
Saberi, born of a Japanese mother and an Iranian father living in the United States, had been reporting for the U.S. National Public Radio, the BBC and Fox News. -