TEHRAN (Press TV/Yomiuri) -- President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has called on Japan to take a more active role in solving the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

In an interview with the Japanese daily Yomiuri, he also stressed that any suspension of uranium enrichment by Iran is impossible and adopting resolutions against Tehran would not hamper its nuclear activities.
As to the possible imposition of the UN Security Council's third set of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities, Ahmadinejad was optimistic about future prospects, based on his assessment that Iran's cooperative attitude with the International Atomic Energy Agency was highly appreciated by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.
""The nuclear issue is over,"" Ahmadinejad said.
""Iran does not have an intention to develop nuclear weapons,"" Ahmadinejad noted, arguing Tehran intends to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.
The president dismissed the allegations of military cooperation between Tehran and Pyongyang, saying Iran-North Korea ties are just normal political relations.
Regarding the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Conference, the president asserted that since the very beginning it was clear that this summit was futile because a country which provides the enemies of the Palestinian nation with millions of dollars worth of weapons won't be able to broker a peace agreement.
Ahmadinejad then said Iran wanted to have good relations with Japan, not only in the economic field, but also in the field of ""culture and politics,"" implying Japan would take an independent attitude to Iran over such issues as Iran's nuclear development.