"If Iran's use of peaceful technology is recognised, then Iran will remain committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its additional protocol," the state news agency IRNA quoted Hassan Rowhani as telling visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"Iran looks upon trust-building measures as positive, but only on the condition that Iran's legitimate and legal rights are respected internationally," added Rowhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Iran has been told by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to suspend its fuel cycle work related to uranium enrichment pending the completion of a probe of the Islamic republic's nuclear activities.

Depending on the level of purification, enriched uranium can be used either as fuel for a civilian reactor or as the explosive core of a nuclear bomb.

The European Union's so-called Big Three -- Britain, France and Germany -- would like Iran to give up its work on the nuclear fuel cycle altogether.

Iran says it only wants to generate electricity, and emphasizes that enrichment is permitted under the NPT -- the treaty overseen by the IAEA -- if for peaceful purposes.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.