Iran says to achieve success in nuclear talks, IAEA should consider "realities"

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-1-24 9:41:13

Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday that the agency should adhere to "realities" about Iran's nuclear program in order to achieve "success," official IRNA news agency reported.

Talking to IRNA, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said "If somebody raises some allegations, he should present the documents about them (to us)," adding that besides, subjects raised over Iran's nuclear issue should be dealt with one by one.

Above all, the Islamic republic should be assured that, after resolving the issues over the country's nuclear standoff, Iran's nuclear case would be closed, Soltanieh was quoted as saying.

"The success of talks on Iran's nuclear program depends on agency's adherence to (such) realities," he added.

Describing the recent talks between Iran and the IAEA as " progressive", Soltanieh said that "If the considerations and expectations pertaining to our national security are met, we are ready to finalize it (a deal) and to remove the ambiguities."

In the previous meetings between Iran and the IAEA, some differences were settled but there are still some points on which Iran insists, he added.

After the two-day talks ended here last Thursday, both Iran and the IAEA announced that a new round of talks would be held on Feb. 13 in Tehran.

Iran and the IAEA failed to reach an agreement on the investigation of the disputed nuclear program, but Iran said the negotiations were a step forward.

The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the future negotiations between Iran and the world powers, which were supposed to resume soon.

The negotiations have already been held back by deep-rooted differences, with Iran demanding the West to dismantle tough sanctions that have made it hard for Tehran to sell its crude in the global market.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Iran's nuclear program a "threat," saying that his new government will "prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons." Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons and threatened to launch a military strike on its nuclear facilities.

The West, meanwhile, wants Tehran to give up its nuclear enrichment program which Iran has insisted to be peaceful and legitimate. The great progress Iran made on uranium enrichment in 2012 was widely recognized as both the counterattack against the West's crippling policy and its bargaining chips on the negotiation table.

During his major annual press conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that attempts to solve the Iranian nuclear problem in military ways could be dangerous.

Lavrov meanwhile urged Iran to be responsive to requests from the IAEA on possible military elements in its nuclear program.

He pointed at the lingering pauses and slow pace of the talks between the P5+1, comprising Britain, France, Russia, the United States, China, plus Germany, and Iran over the latter's nuclear program. The Russians have been critical about the postponement of the resumption of talks.

On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said that Egypt has welcomed Tehran's proposal for Cairo to host the next round of the nuclear talks between the Islamic republic and the P5+1, Press TV reported.

Egypt is now consulting with the P5+1 for hosting the meeting, but so far, the time and venue about the next round of talks have not been finalized, Salehi said.

Posted in: Mid-East

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