Tehran, Jan 5, SPA -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday insisted Iran would resume atomic research. Iran's announcement on Tuesday that it would resume nuclear research and development which it suspended more than two years ago brought swift warnings from Washington and the European Union. Iran says it will only use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, such as electricity generation, and that as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it has a right to do so. "Recently, some of them have said the Iranian nation has no right to nuclear research," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of people in the holy city of Qom broadcast on state television. "But they should know that the Iranian nation and government will defend the right to nuclear research and technology and will go forward prudently," he said. "By relying on its young scientists, Iran will use this technology for medicine, industry and energy in the near future," he added. An Iranian delegation was expected to meet officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Thursday to explain what activities the resumption of nuclear research and development would encompass, Reuters reported. --SPA 13 58 Local Time 10 58 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/317047