“Iran will never abandon its inalienable right to develop peaceful nuclear energy under any circumstances. If the other sides accept this issue, a major part of the problem will be solved…. In that case, there will be no room for extremist elements and a return to the language of threat,” Akhondzadeh said in an interview with the Dutch NRC newspaper.
Pointing to the latest round of comprehensive talks between Iran and the six major world powers of P5+1 group in the Kazakh city of Almaty, he added that an 11-year-old issue cannot be resolved easily.
“However, we feel that all sides have chosen a new path and come to the conclusion that there is no way but dialogue to resolve this issue,” the Iranian official stated.
Iran and P5+1 - Russia, China, France, Britain, and the US plus Germany - have held several rounds of talks mainly over Iran’s nuclear energy program. The two sides wrapped up their latest round of negotiations in Almaty on April 6 after an earlier meeting in the Kazakh city on February 26-27.
The US, Israel and some of their allies falsely claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and the European Union using the claim as pretext to impose illegal sanctions against Iran.
Tehran rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.