Iran nuclear deal tied to Sextet will: Zarif
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the current standoff over Tehran's civilian nuclear work could be resolved soon in case six world powers engaged in talks with the Islamic Republic show real determination.
“If there is a real determination in the opposite side for the resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue, a final result can be reached in the shortest possible time,” Zarif said in a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Su-yong, in Tehran on Sunday.
The remarks come as Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany have been discussing ways to iron out differences and start drafting a final deal that would end the West’s dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program.
Zarif noted that no one in Iran will give up the obvious rights of the Iranian people due to unfair sanctions, adding that the Islamic Republic has been slapped with “the toughest sanctions in the contemporary history."
The minister also said Iran will not allow the Western countries to portray a wrong picture of Iran over its peaceful nuclear work.
“This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on its politico-Islamic beliefs, has never sought [to develop] nuclear weapons and such weapons have no place in our military doctrine and we strictly disagree with the development and stockpile of nuclear bomb by any country, and [we] believe that all countries should be denuclearized,” Zarif added.
US-led sanctions on Iran have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Tehran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran rejects the allegation.
The North Korean foreign minister, for his part, described the sanctions against Iran and his own country as unfair, saying the bans contributed to self-confidence and internal development of both states.