Iran reiterates readiness to cooperate more closely with IAEA

“Once again, we announced our readiness to continue negotiations and collaboration with the agency,” Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in reference to Iran’s latest communication with the agency.

“We have always been ready to have closer cooperation with the agency and have proved this in practice as we have had the most [extensive] collaboration with the body,” he said in his Tuesday press conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The Iranian official expressed hope that Iran would fully enjoy the right to peaceful nuclear energy in return for the country’s commitment to its international obligations.

Mehmanparast also said Tehran has a positive approach to the upcoming round of talks with the P5+1 -- the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany -- in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on May 23, and expressed optimism that the next round of the negotiations will be fruitful and guarantee the rights of the Iranian nation.

He further argued that any decision by the West could seriously affect the atmosphere of the upcoming talks, and noted, “We consider any sanction measure as a wrong and negative step; however, we regard a removal of the illegal and unreasonable embargoes as the right approach for rectifying the previous mistakes.”

Iran and the P5+1 wrapped up their latest negotiations in the Turkish city of Istanbul on April 14, hailing the talks as “constructive.”

The two sides had previously held two rounds of talks, one in Geneva in December 2010 and another in Istanbul in January 2011.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

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 nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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