Iran said on Tuesday it views its nuclear activities as a non-negotiable right, but confirmed they will be discussed in mooted talks with world powers aimed at defusing a crisis containing the seeds of a new Middle East war, even as two Iranian warships sent by Tehran to the Mediterranean last week to help “train the Syrian navy” entered the Suez canal on Tuesday on their way back to Iran, source said.

“The issue of our country’s peaceful nuclear activities will be on the agenda of talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent  UN Security Council members plus Germany),” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in a televised briefing. “Our main demand is recognition of our right to possess the (nuclear) technology for peaceful purposes,” Mehmanparast said. “That right has been achieved, and we don’t think this is a negotiable issue.” He said a UN team visiting Iran has no plans to inspect the country’s nuclear facilities and will only hold talks with officials  in Tehran. He said the visiting IAEA team was made up of experts, not inspectors, adding the IAEA team was holding talks on Tuesday to prepare the ground for future cooperation between Iran and IAEA.