CBNNews.com - GENEVA - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called US participation in last weekend's talks in Geneva a "positive step forward."

According to Ahmadinejad, the US presence at the meeting signals that the country is closer to accepting Iran's right to acquire nuclear technology.

The Iranian president said US Undersecretary of State William Burns "spoke politely and in a dignified manner" at the meeting.

"You [the US] took a positive step. It was a step toward recognizing the rights of the Iranian nation, toward justice, toward repairing your image in the world, toward cleaning 50 years of crimes you committed against the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad told supporters at a rally in the southern Iranian town of Yasouj.

"I advise you not to ruin the positive step you took through irrelevant words and claims," he said.

Meanwhile, in a speech broadcast on Iranian state-run televison, Ahmadinejad vowed not to "retreat one iota" in its nuclear program.

"The Iranian nation…will not retreat in the face of oppressing powers," he said.

"The Iranian nation has chosen its path," Ahmadinejad said.

Sources: The Associated Press, Reuters