The UN High Commissionaire for Human Rights Navi Pillay had on Thursday in a press conference on the sidelines of the Vienna nuclear negotiations between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) requested the western negotiating delegations to include human rights issue in Iran in their nuclear negotiations with Tehran in full details.
"The human rights issue is fully unrelated to the nuclear talks, as everyone is well aware, and such a request will lead to nowhere," Araqchi stressed.
Araqchi added that he had only seen a headline about the UN High commissionaire for human rights (UNHCHR) comment on the matter and that he was not even fully aware whether she had said so or not, reiterating, "All I can say is that Pillay is a much respected personality on the international scene."
"She is an internationally renowned, experienced personality and I seriously doubt it that she would have been incapable of comprehending such a simple fact," the Iranian official added.
"All the sides of these negotiations, too, are fully aware of the fact that the human rights issue is totally unrelated to the matter of discussions in our ongoing nuclear talks," He pointed out.
On Friday, Iranian and EU officials in a meeting in Vienna held another round of talks on drafting a final agreement between Tehran and the G5+1 over the former's nuclear program.
During the meeting in the Austrian capital, Araqchi and EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmidt started bilateral consultations on the final deal.
The sixth round of talks between Tehran and the G5+1 headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton officially started in Vienna this week.
Zarif held separate meetings with Director-General of the Department of Arms Control of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Qun who leads Beijing's delegation in Vienna talks and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and head of his country's team Sergey Ryabov in Vienna on Wednesday afternoon.
Also on Wednesday, Zarif held a bilateral meeting with Ashton which was focused on drawing up agenda of the Vienna 6 talks.
The Iranian foreign minister also attended a tripartite meeting with Ashton and US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.
In a video message on the eve of a new round of talks with the six world powers on Wednesday, Zarif asked his counterparts from the sextet not to miss the present opportunity for striking a deal with Iran and putting an end to an unnecessary crisis.
