Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 2
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Feb. 2 that the country will not give up research on centrifuges as part of a final deal with the six countries involved.
Zarif went on to note that Iran is going to discuss various aspects of the nuclear program in the upcoming negotiations.
"Technology and science have nothing to do with the proliferation of nuclear weapons," he said.
Iran is set to resume talks with the P5+1 group in Vienna on February 18.
The country believes that the development of a new advanced centrifuge is going to be at the heart of the talks.
Under an interim deal reached in November, Tehran can engage in research and development of centrifuges.
Iran and the P5+1 reached a nuclear agreement on Nov. 24. Iran has agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities for six months in return for sanctions relief.
Iran and the P5+1 group have agreed to implement the agreement starting from Jan. 20.
Under the agreement, six major powers agreed to give Iran access to $4.2 billion in revenues blocked overseas if it carries out the deal, which offers sanctions relief in exchange for steps to curb the Iranian nuclear program.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies.
The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.