“The negotiating team seeks to protect the nuclear rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran and to lift the sanctions,” Ali Akbar Velayati said on Friday.
He lauded the “positive” performance of the Iranian negotiating team in talks with six major world powers, and added that the “seasoned” negotiators are trying to protect the country’s national interests.
Iran and six world powers - the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - wrapped up two days of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 15-16. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the talks and agreed to meet again in the Swiss city on November 7-8.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday that nuclear and sanctions experts from Iran and the six world powers are to meet in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on October 30 and 31 in the run-up to the upcoming nuclear talks in Geneva.
Velayati further stressed the importance of carefully monitoring the moves by the six major powers and called on the Iranian negotiating team to base its actions on the Leader’s guidelines and the opposite side’s behavior, so that “no damage would be inflicted on strategic goals of the Islamic establishment.”
During the Geneva talks between Tehran and the six powers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif presented Tehran’s proposal titled "Closing an Unnecessary Crisis, Opening a New Horizon" to EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton and the representatives of the six countries.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and European Union using the claim as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran. The bans come on top of four rounds of US-instigated UN Security Council sanctions against Iran under the same pretext.
Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, stressing that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
