Tuesday 25 November 2014

Iran won’t bow to threats, sanctions, Rouhani says

Video here

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says the Iranian nation will never bow to sanctions and pressures and will keep its nuclear facilities under any agreement.

“Today, the opposite negotiating sides have reached the conclusion that pressure and sanctions on Iran will not bear fruit,” Rouhani said in a live television interview on Monday after Iran and the six countries agreed to extend the nuclear talks for seven months.

He added that the Islamic Republic would never give up its nuclear rights, saying that the country’s nuclear facilities would certainly remain operational and Iran would never stop its centrifuges.

He noted that Iran pursues two main objectives in its talks with the P5+1 group, which include keeping its nuclear technology and lifting sanctions on Tehran.

“At present, no one in the world has any doubt that Iran must have nuclear technology, including enrichment on its soil, and no one has any doubt that sanctions must be lifted,” Rouhani added.

The Iranian president also pointed out that the Iranian nation will be the final winner in the negotiations with the P5+1 countries over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Rouhani emphasized that the path of nuclear negotiations would lead to a final agreement, noting that all the sides in the nuclear talks had consensus on the extension of the nuclear talks as an effort to reach a final goal.

“Iran’s logic is one of negotiations and dialog; and nuclear talks will be continued with seriousness until a final agreement is struck,” he said.

Stressing that the latest round of nuclear talks in Vienna was positive, Rouhani added that although the negotiating sides failed to reach a final agreement, they managed to take steps forward because the conditions now are “completely different from [what they were] three months and six months ago, logics have come closer together and may of gaps have been filled.”

The sides took steps to reach an understanding and a final agreement “but reaching a written and final agreement needs time,” he added.

In their last round of talks before a November 24 deadline for reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal, Iran and the P5+1 countries -- the United States, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain -- held nearly a week of intense negotiations in Vienna on how to tackle the remaining obstacles that exist in the way of reaching an agreement.

At the end of the talks, the two sides agreed to extend the Joint Plan of Action to July 1, 2015.

SF/HMV/SS

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Nobody questions Iran's enrichment program: Zarif

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran has the right to have an enrichment program under any deal with the P5+1 group.

Zarif made the remarks at a press conferences at the end of week-long talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group of countries – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US, and Germany-- in the Austrian capital Vienna on Monday.

"I do not believe that anybody any longer questions Iran's enrichment program. We believe that right of Iran to the peaceful nuclear energy, including uranium enrichment, is enshrined in the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), which does not require anybody's recognition. The right is there. What is important is for Iran to be able to implement that right, to exercise that right without the threat of sanctions and pressure which are, in our view, illegal," Zarif stated.

"I believe everybody has worked hard particularly over the last week... in order to overcome rather important differences” between Iran and P5+1, Zarif said, adding, that the discussions centered on two objectives -- ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful and sanctions imposed on Iran are lifted.

"We have always said that Iran has no strategic interest in nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons don't serve our strategic interests," Zarif further said, adding, “Nuclear weapons are against every principle of our faith and our beliefs.”

"We seek to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Zarif noted.

The Iranian foreign minister further touched upon the issue of illegal sanctions imposed on Iran, saying, “The sanctions are not only misguided... but are totally ineffective."

"Sanctions do not resolve the problem," Zarif stated. “Only, and I stress, only a negotiated resolution" can lead to the termination of standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear energy program.

"We believe that a negotiated resolution is within reach," he asserted.

A political agreement between Iran and the six countries is within reach with a positive-sum rather than zero-sum perspective, said the Iranian foreign minister, adding that four months are enough to resolve outstanding issues in the nuclear negotiations.

The top diplomat further said that the rest of a now extended seven-month deadline would be used to put complicated technical issues into a final agreement.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said that the Islamic Republic would never give up its nuclear rights, saying that the country’s nuclear facilities would certainly remain operational and Iran would never stop its centrifuges.

In their last round of talks before a November 24 deadline, Iran and the P5+1 countries held nearly a week of intense negotiations in Vienna on how to tackle the remaining obstacles that exist in the way of reaching a comprehensive agreement.

At the end of the talks, the two sides agreed to extend the Joint Plan of Action to July 1, 2015.

IA/NT/AS

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