Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami reportedly called on Iran to avert an international crisis over the nation's controversial nuclear program, and to avoid further penalties imposed on it by the United Nations Security Council.
In a report released Monday, Khatami added that Iran should pay "a certain price" for talks to resolve the current standoff.
"I believe we should pay a certain price," he told Sanaat va Tose'e according to the AFP, "and pay it bravely, for talks and not heading towards crisis as well as guaranteeing our rights in future." He gave no indication over what this "price" might involve.
Last December, the UN Security Council imposed its first ever sanctions against Iran in response to ithe nation's refusal to halt its nuclear program, which many in the West believe is aimed at attaining nuclear weapons. Iran has maintained that the program is purely for civilian energy needs.
"We can prevent a crisis with discretion and courage, or to turn it to a form that hurts us less. In nuclear and regional issues, especially Iraq, we should act with prudence and not provoke," Khatami added.
"We have to be alert and apprehensive .... the crisis is very damaging to Iran and it hurts the United States and the region too," he inferred.
The reformist former president Khatami served as the nation's president from 1997-2005.
