**Iran is ready for “fair and logical” talks with world powers to solve global “challenges”, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told a news conference.**He also proposed a public debate on the issues with President Barack Obama of the United States.
The comments come ahead of a meeting of representatives of the UN’s nuclear watchdog which will tackle Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
Iran says the project is peaceful, but critics accuse it of seeking weapons.
Mr Ahmadinejad - re-elected in a disputed election in July - also reiterated his government’s right to pursue peaceful nuclear power.
The week-long International Atomic Energy Agency governors’ meeting opens in Vienna later on Monday.
Central to the discussions will be allegations, based on western intelligence reports, that Iran has secretly studied ways to make nuclear bombs. Iran says the reports are fabricated.
In its own latest report, the IAEA has urged Iran to address the suspicions, rather than simply dismissing them.