“We are counting on some developments in the forthcoming round,” Reuters quoted Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday.
Iran and the P5+1 -- United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, and Germany -- are scheduled to hold talks in Almaty, Kazakshtan, on February 26.
The Russian official underscored the need for “movement forward, progress” in the next round of talks.
“Progress is slow and expectations are not very high, but it shows that we are not moving in the wrong direction,” he stated.
Also on Thursday, Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergey Baburin slammed the US unilateral sanctions against Iran as Washington’s tactic to sabotage the upcoming talks.
Baburin noted that the US stance on Iran totally runs counter to the objectives of the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group.
Iran has said if the group of six major world powers recognizes the Islamic Republic’s rights, Tehran will remove their concerns over the country’s nuclear energy program.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
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A Russian deputy foreign minister says he counts on progress in the forthcoming round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group in Kazakhstan next week.
News ID 184302
