“Iran is committed to the negotiations but not all members of the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) are loyal to their undertakings since they violate the undertakings they have accepted in Geneva,” Velayati told reporters in Tehran on Monday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will remain loyal to all its undertakings based on the Geneva deal, but it won’t give up even an iota of its nuclear rights,” he underlined.
Velayati dismissed western media and officials’ claims against Iran's nuclear drive, reiterating that Iran has always moved on a peaceful path when using the nuclear technology.
In relevant remarks in December, Velayati condemned the US for imposing fresh sanctions against Tehran despite its undertakings based on the Geneva deal, and said Washington needs good ties with Tehran and should remain committed to the agreement.
“The US is obliged to remain committed to the agreement since they don’t want their situation to move in some direction which is not beneficial to their interests after their failed projects in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Syria,” Velayati, who also chairs the Strategic Studies Center of Iran's Expediency Council, told reporters in Tehran at the time.
Stressing that the US needs Iran too much to be stopped by its nuclear concerns, he said, “Iran lays stress on its position for using the peaceful nuclear energy within the framework of the international treaties, including the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), and nothing will prevent Iran since the Islamic Republic is making no illegal moves.”
Velayati accused the US officials of uttering contradictory remarks before and after the Geneva agreement, and said during the November talks in Geneva they expressed pleasure with the agreement and after that they acted against it to satisfy the Zionists and the regional reactionary regimes.
On November 24, Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members sealed the six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.
In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and continue talks with the country to settle all problems between the two sides.
Iran and the six world powers had an expert meeting in Vienna, Austria, on December 9. The negotiations were scheduled to continue until December 13, but the Iranian negotiators cut short the talks and returned to Iran in protest at the US breach of the Geneva agreement by blacklisting a dozen companies and individuals for evading Washington’s sanctions.
After that US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to soothe Tehran’s anger over Washington’s fresh sanctions in a phone call to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Iran and the world powers are due to start a fresh round of talks in Vienna on March 17 to achieve a comprehensive and permanent deal.
