Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in an interview with a U.S. television network that his country would never seek nuclear weapons.

Reaching out to an American audience from his presidential compound in Tehran, Rohani said he had “full authority” to resolve issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran has repeatedly pledged that “under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we,” Rohani, who took office on Aug. 4, said in the interview with Ann Curry of NBC News that aired last night. “We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb, and we are not going to do so.”

While Rohani reiterated Iran’s longstanding position that its uranium enrichment and related programs are for peaceful purposes, the U.S. and other members of the United Nations Security Council, as well as Israel, say there’s evidence that the Islamic republic is covertly working to develop the capability to produce nuclear weapons.

Rohani is scheduled to make his first appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. U.S. officials are watching whether the new president will take a different approach to diplomacy from former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who used the UN platform to rail against the West and Israel.

President Barack Obama sent Rohani a “positive and constructive” letter congratulating him on his election, the Iranian president said.

(Bloomberg)