Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday that Iran is determined to make use of its right as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the official IRNA news agency reported.

Addressing the First Conference of the Prosecutors of Capitals of Islamic Countries in Tehran, Mottaki said that Iran, which has been signatory to the NPT for the past 37 years, is determined to make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

His remarks came just one day before Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana are scheduled to meet in Spain to discuss Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

IRNA reported earlier Wednesday that Larijani, prior to his departure for talks with Solana in Spain, rejected a suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment work.

"Suspension will not be a proper solution to ongoing standoff over Iran's peaceful nuclear case," Larijani told IRNA.

The Iranian top nuclear negotiator stressed that Iran does not intend to give up its peaceful nuclear program in order to remove the "concern" of others.

He also termed as "realistic" the recent proposal by Director- General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei on limited enrichment in Iran.

In late April, Larijani and Solana held two rounds of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara over Iran's uranium enrichment program.

After their meetings, the two negotiators told reporters that they had made progress in their talks.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on March 24 a new resolution with tougher sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities.

Iran has refused to heed the Security Council's demand, insisting that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only.

However, the United States and some other Western countries have been accusing Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear program.