Spanish ambassador to Tehran Pedro Antonio Villena Perez has expressed optimism about the upcoming talks between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) and Iran in Moscow.

“We hope the Iran-P5+1 negotiations in Moscow will be a good start for the settlement of all issues between Iran and the international community,” said Perez during an exclusive interview with IRNA on Tuesday.

Iran and the P5+1-- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany -- held three sessions of plenary talks in Baghdad on May 23 and 24 after an earlier round of negotiations in Istanbul in mid-April.

The two sides agreed to hold another round of multifaceted talks, which mainly focus on Iran's nuclear energy program, in Moscow on June 18-19.

Pointing to Spain’s support for diplomacy, Perez added that “Madrid is totally opposed to the use of force and coercion to resolve problems.”

The Spanish envoy to Iran further noted that adherence to “multilateralism and diplomacy” has been one of the foreign policy priorities of Spain.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Washington and Tel Aviv have time and again threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike against its civilian nuclear facilities.

Iran refutes such allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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News ID 181885