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IRI Envoy in Vienna: Iran not interested in blocking Hormuz Straight

Iran Materials 26 July 2012 08:02 (UTC +04:00)

IRI Ambassador to Austrian capital city, Vienna, Hassan Tajik, emphasized on July 25 that Iran is by no means interested in blocking the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Tajik made the comment in an interview with the Austrian news agency (APA) in reply to a question about the possibility of Tehran's resorting to such a policy, stressing, "The west is aggrandizing this matter, just as always on the verge of the beginning of a round of nuclear talks, when such talks are propagated in the vest excessively", IRNA reported.

The ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Austria added, "I view the issue of blocking the Strait of Hormuz only as a hypothesis. But as the IRI foreign minister has clearly announced, we are by no means interested in blocking the Strait of Hormuz."

Tajik added, "As you know, during the course of the Iraqi imposed war we tried our best not to let the war expand into the Persian Gulf region, although the other involved powers' wished otherwise. We favor safeguarding the regional security, as its stability is in every one's interest."

He said that the west's anti-Iran sanctions and pressure policy is a dead-end street, arguing, "Of course the sanctions are unpleasant, but the weten powers must have definitely realized by now that Iran would not be thus intimidated, or urged to kneel down, and that we would at any rate continue our progress and advancement procedure."

Iran's ambassador to Vienna expressed hope that a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute would be south in the course of the ongoing talks between Iran and the six western countries.

Tajik expressed optimism about the process of Iran-G5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, and Germany) negotiations pursued in Baghdad, Istanbul and Moscow.

He reiterated, "The only option capable of problem solving in nuclear dispute between Iran and the west in the diplomatic one, and that is through pursuing the negotiations' process.

The Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran in Vienna emphasized, "We have a clear nuclear program and we are ready for cooperation with the west, but they must confess to our rights as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."

Deputy Secretary of IRI Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Baqeri here Wednesday evaluated the outcome of his Tuesday talks with EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton's Deputy Helga Schmidt as positive.

Baqeri who had arrived in Ankara at the end of the two Iran-G5+1 deputies' talks in Istanbul, attended the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had an almost two hour talk with the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The meeting took place in the presence of the IRI Ambassador Bahman Hosseinpour.

Baqeri who was speaking with IRNA and IRIB reporters Wednesday evening after that meeting, said, "My meeting with Ms. Schmidt was in line with the agreements reached in Moscow negotiations."

He added, "It was agreed at the end of the Moscow negotiations that a round of talks between the two sides' technicians would be held, which was held in Istanbul on July 3rd, and was a good, positive meeting, as both sides confirmed."

After that and relying on the achievements of the technicians' talks, the deputies' talks were held yesterday, paving the path for the upcoming Jalili-Ashton negotiations, said Baqeri.

He added, "During my Tuesday talks with Ms. Schmidt we managed to pursue within good frameworks, and we reached agreements on continuing this process in future higher level negotiations."

Iran's deputy SNSC secretary had said, "Iran and Turkey are not only two good neighbors, but also two strategic partners" arguing that relations between the two countries are vastly expanding in various fields, and therefore in my talks with Foreign Minister Davutoglu we also talked about bilateral relations and the regional developments."

Baqeri added, "The Turkish foreign minister was agreed with us on the point that Iran's right to take peaceful advantage of the nuclear energy must be respected, and stressed that the nuclear talks must continue.

Iran's chief negotiator Sa'eid Jalili said after two days of talks with the six world powers in Moscow that uranium enrichment is the Iranian nation's inalienable right and the Group 5+1 should now make a choice.

EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who leads the delegations of the six world powers in negotiations with Iran, said that the representatives from Tehran and the sextet will attend an experts' meeting next month on July 3rd in Istanbul.

Iran and the Group 5+1 held several rounds of talks in Baghdad two months ago. The Baghdad meeting came after Iran and the six world powers resumed talks in Istanbul, Turkey, in April.

It should be noted that Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of 'trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program,' while they have never presented any compelling evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed the West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing those sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.

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