Ban asks G5+1, Iran to resume talks with utmost flexibility
IRNA - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called ob G5+1 group – made up of the United Kingdom, the United States, China, France, Germany and Russia – and Iran to resume nuclear negotiations with renewed intensity and with the utmost flexibility.
The Secretary-General said he hopes that prior to the forthcoming technical and political meetings, the parties would strengthen their resolve to quickly achieve a negotiated solution that restores international confidence in an Iranian nuclear program that could be deemed exclusively peaceful,” stated a note issued by Ban’s spokesperson.
'In this connection, the Secretary-General appeals to the parties to resume their diplomatic engagement with renewed intensity and with the utmost flexibility,” the spokesperson added.
His remarks followed two days of hectic negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 in the Russian capital on Monday and Tuesday.
During five sessions of negotiations, the two sides' negotiators exchanged views over the packages of proposals they had presented in the last month talks in Baghdad.
Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili said after two days of talks with the six world powers in Moscow on Tuesday said uranium enrichment is the Iranian nation's inalienable right and the Group 5+1 should now make a choice.
'Iran in particular had prepared comprehensive discussions to elaborate on its own viewpoints in five axes and the first session of the talks focused on these viewpoints,' he continued.
Jalili said his team 'expressed Iran's views explicitly and clearly'.
'We emphasized that uranium enrichment is the inalienable right of the Iranian nation. Enrichment for peaceful uses in all levels is an inalienable right,' the Iranian top negotiator reiterated.
Jalili said the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) should now make a choice, and asked the world powers to 'stop walking along the previous(ly tested) dead-end streets and step on the path of cooperation with the Iranian nation'.
'No logic approves of confrontation against the Iranian nation's progress,' he said, and expressed the hope that the next month meeting at experts level would serve as an opportunity for the western powers to opt for the correct path and step out of their dead-end path.
'We are ready to prove the righteousness of Iran's stances technically, legally and politically through crystal-clear logic at the experts meetings, especially with regard to peaceful nuclear activities,' stressed Jalili.
Meantime, he warned that Iran would reciprocate 'any unconstructive attitude on the path of talks with an appropriate response', while 'moving on the constructive path of talks and cooperation can guarantee success of future talks'.
EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who leads the delegations of the six world powers in negotiations with Iran, said representatives from Tehran and the sextet, will attend an experts meeting next month on July 3rd in Istanbul.