Bolivian President Evo Morales offered a testy retort Monday to visiting US defense chief Robert Gates's warning about any nuclear dealings with Iran, saying Bolivia will ally with whomever it wants.

"Nobody will stop me" from negotiating with any country, Morales said at the opening of a biannual conference of regional defense ministers attended by Gates.

"Bolivia, under my leadership, will have agreements and alliances with everyone," the leftist leader added. "We have the right, and we have a culture of dialogue."

Morales, who has signed several political and economic deals with Tehran and has tense relations with Washington, announced late last month that Bolivia has plans to build a nuclear plant with Iran's help, stressing the facility would be for peaceful purposes.

On Sunday upon his arrival in Bolivia, Gates cautioned against the motives of Tehran, which the international community suspects is seeking to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program, despite Iranian denials.

"I'm not sure the Iranians have an independent capability to help somebody build a civil nuclear capability. Their own capability has been under contract with the Russians" for 20 years, Gates said.

"I don't really know what the Iranians are up to, to really tell you the truth," he said.

Morales has visited Iran twice in as many years, while Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad travelled to Bolivia in 2007 for the first visit by an Iranian president.

Under Ahmadinejad, the Islamic republic has strengthened diplomatic ties with Latin America, and with Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua and Venezuela in particular.

Gates was due later Monday to address the conference, which is expected to address defense budgeting, disaster response and transparency in arms sales.

earlier related report
Iran nuclear talks likely in Geneva next month: EU
Brussels (AFP) Nov 22, 2010 - Stalled negotiations between world powers and Iran on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme will likely resume on December 5 in Geneva, the European Union's top diplomat said Monday.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters she had received "informal confirmations" from Iran about the date and location for the talks, "but I want a formal confirmation."

Iran and six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany -- have agreed to return to the negotiating table for the first time since October 2009.

The six powers rejected an Iranian proposal to hold the talks in Turkey. Instead, they suggested meeting in Switzerland or Austria, but the Islamic republic has yet to respond.

The two sides diverge on what issues should be on the table. The world powers want the talks to focus on Iran's uranium enrichment programme but Tehran wants a wider discussion that includes regional security issues.

"For me the core of the agenda is very clear: we need to talk about nuclear weapons capability and to have a full and frank discussion about that," Ashton said.

"But in the course of our discussions, of course, opportunities to raise other issues should not be lost, that is why I want to spend time so that we can do that," she said, noting that she proposed two days of talks.

"But I know what I'm going to discuss," said Ashton, referring to the nuclear dispute.

The United States, Europe and Israel fear that Iran wants to use nuclear technology to build a bomb, but Tehran insists that its programme is a peaceful drive to produce civilian energy.