Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, "The Islamic Republic has practically demonstrated its full commitment with regard to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and safeguards.

"Iran's broad and transparent cooperation with the (International Atomic Energy) Agency confirms this," he said.

The statement issued by the Group of Eight nations said Wednesday that the governments of the US, UK, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Canada and Russia 'deplore' Iran's alleged delays, inadequate disclosures and lack of cooperation with the IAEA inspectors.

Asefi said, "These stances are irrational and contradict the realities.

"So far, no deviation has been observed in Iran's nuclear activities and what is being raised these days with regard to Iran's activities is (aimed at) creating pressures and a climate for propaganda," he added.

Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful generation of power, and strongly rejects Washington's allegations that the program is being cloaked to build an atomic bomb.

"Peaceful use of nuclear energy is a legitimate right of Iran and we will not give this up," Asefi stressed.

"And the Group of Eight nations must not expect Iran to give up this right; rather they should provide Iran with the necessary means to make use of this technology," he said.

The G8 statement came ahead of the agency's 35-member board of governors meeting starting Monday and was said to be modelled on a report written by IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei.

Tehran has said it is confident 'the ill-wishers of the Islamic Republic will not achieve what they want' in that meeting.

In that report, the international nuclear watchdog had asked Tehran to clarify ambiguities regarding contamination of some of the imported nuclear parts and issues related to P2 centrifuges.

Iran says it has 'answered all ambiguities in cooperation with the agency'.

Tehran has suspended production of centrifuge components as of April 9 as a confidence-building measure with the international community.

It has also voluntarily frozen its uranium enrichment activities since last October and signed a protocol allowing snap inspections of its nuclear sites by the IAEA.

The suspension followed an agreement signed between Iran and the European big three -- Britain, France and Germany -- for cooperation.

Asefi said, "Iran's cooperation with the agency and the European countries has taken place in light of reciprocal commitments and maintaining this cooperation will be ensured if the two sides remain bound by those commitments."