TEHRAN (Financial Times) -- Iranian presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Mousavi has ruled out suspension of the country’s uranium enrichment but insisted that he would work to provide “guarantees” that Tehran would not divert its nuclear program to weapons use.

In his first interview with the international media, one of the leading rivals to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, in the June election, told the Financial Times that Iran had a “bad experience” with suspension.
It had agreed to a suspension between 2003 and 2005 in the hope that it would build confidence in the peaceful nature of its program, he said.
But the move “turned into a tool to deprive Iran of having access to nuclear technology,” he argued, referring to European powers’ insistence at the time that Iran should suspend indefinitely its experiments.
A self-effacing architect and painter, Mr. Mousavi served as prime minister in the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq war, but has dedicated much of his time in the past two decades to the arts. The 69-year-old’s candidacy has attracted international attention, partly because he is backed by Mohammad Khatami, the former reformist president.
Mr. Khatami withdrew his own candidacy to try to unite reformist ranks behind Mr. Mousavi. Cleric Mehdi Karroubi remains in the race and could yet split reformist votes. But Mr. Mousavi’s challenge is attracting the support of young Iranians, who make up the majority of the population.
The comments of Mr. Mousavi suggest that Iran’s nuclear stand could be little affected by the June poll.
Analysts and diplomats that a figure like Mr. Mousaviat the presidency would facilitate nuclear talks, particularly at a time when the U.S. is shifting Iran policy and moving towards engagement.
The Obama administration last week said it would from now on participate in nuclear discussions that have been held in the past between Iran and other world powers, and Iran has welcomed the move.
Sitting in a conference room at the Art Centre in Tehran, Mr. Mousavi acknowledged that “the role of the Supreme Leader is very determining”. But he said “decisions on nuclear technology definitely need to be based on thorough consensus at the national level”.
Mr. Mousavi has sought to appeal to reformists and conservatives. Some reformists, however, say he will not go far enough in pressing their agenda and are backing Mr. Karroubi. On the other hand, some conservatives alienated by Mr. Ahmadinejad are said to be ready to support Mr. Mousavi.
Mr. Mousavi said he met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last week in what he described as “very good and positive” talks. -