TEHRAN, 22 March 2005 — Iran is not seeking to enter a war over its controversial nuclear program but would be “fully ready” for military conflict if it was forced, the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday.

“We are not like the United States,” said Khamenei in a televised speech to mark the first day of the Persian new year. “We are not seeking to enter any war, but if we have to, then we would be fully ready.”

Khamenei was referring to recent remarks by US officials including President George W. Bush, who said they “did not rule out” the possibility of military action if Iran refused to comply with international demands regarding its nuclear program.

“In case of a military strike, all Iranian leaders and officials would be in the front line of the defense,” Khamenei said.

Khamenei called Washington’s claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons a “fairytale” and said the US was trying to hinder Iran’s progress in the nuclear technology field.

Khamenei urged officials to press on with nuclear work and take no heed of US allegations Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapon.

“I advise the officials not to pay attention to the enemies’ threats and to go their own way, doing their job,” Khamenei said.

“Americans know well producing an atomic bomb in Iran is a myth and there is absolutely no truth to that,” he said. “We are not seeking atomic bombs as Islam does not allow us to confront even our enemies like that.”

Iran is to continue with the European Union “Big Three” of Britain, France and Germany over its nuclear program in Paris on March 23.

A final report will be presented to the Iranian leadership following the talks, after which a decision will be made on whether or not to continue the talks process.

Meanwhile, UN atomic agency chief Mohamed El-Baradei said in Paris yesterday the United States will have to give Iran regional security assurances if deadlocked EU-led talks are to succeed in winning guarantees that Tehran is not developing nuclear weapons.

El-Baradei said the United States will have to do more in talks which began in December and resume in Paris tomorrow “because security assurances obviously very much need the Americans.”

El-Baradei said that “at an appropriate time the United States will have to be fully engaged” because “regional security (in the Middle East) is very much not only a European affair.”

The European Union has since December been trying to get Iran to abandon crucial nuclear fuel cycle activities in order to show it is not making nuclear weapons in return for a package of trade, technology and security rewards.

The security dialogue could involve talks on terrorism, a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East, export controls for weapons of mass destruction, and cooperation on fighting drug trafficking, European diplomats said.

The United States, which charges that Iran has a covert nuclear weapons program and has called for Tehran to be brought before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, has backed off from its hard-line to support the Europeans by offering to help out with trade incentives.

El-Baradei said the EU-Iran talks are not in crisis despite the deadlock over Iran’s guaranteeing its atomic intentions are peaceful. “I don’t see any sense of crisis,” El-Baradei said. “This is an early stage of negotiations,” he said.

Iran flatly rejects the Europeans’ demand that it abandon uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but can also be used to manufacture the explosive core of atom bombs.