Iran to keep enrichment within int’l law

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Islamic Republic will keep on exercising its nuclear enrichment right.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its nuclear enrichment within the framework of international regulations,” the Iranian foreign minister said in a meeting with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Monday.

Zarif further assessed ties between Tehran and Hanoi as positive, expressing hope for the expansion of relations between the two countries especially in economic fields.

There are good grounds for upgrading cooperation among the two country’s private companies, the Iranian foreign minister added.

The Vietnamese deputy prime minister, for his part, endorsed Iran’s right to the peaceful nuclear energy, saying, “We support Iran’s right to use peaceful nuclear energy and believe that Iran plays a major role in establishing regional peace and security.”

He also underscored the expansion of cooperation between Iran and Vietnam in economic and technological fields.

Zarif is set to meet with the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and US Secretary of State John Kerry in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on October 15, to discuss the progress of the ongoing nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group of world powers.

Tehran and the P5+1 group – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – wrapped up their latest round of nuclear talks in New York last month.

The two sides are currently working to reach a final agreement aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear work as the November 24 deadline approaches.