Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
By Umid Niayesh, Saeed Isayev - Trend:
The West is better to use the golden opportunity in the nuclear talks with Iran, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Ali Akbar Salehi said, Iranian IRIB news agency reported on Feb. 8.
Salehi made the remarks on the sidelines of commemoration ceremony for Iran's nuclear martyrs on Feb. 7 evening.
"The opposing side should be rational while dealing with Iran, and also consider regional and global interests," Salehi noted.
Speaking about the criticizing statements on the Geneva nuclear deal, Salehi said that Iran didn't lose anything with the deal, as the country's nuclear program has not been halted.
Iran and the P5+1 reached a nuclear agreement on November 24, 2013. 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.
Salehi advised the West not to go for adventurism with Iran, as the Islamic Republic is fully conscious and united.
He also said that Iran's current level of 20-percent enriched uranium reserves fully responds to the country's domestic demands for the next 5 years.
"Iran in the first place wasn't interested in producing 20-percent enriched uranium, however the other side's conditions, which contradicted Iran's national interests, led to us producing it," Salehi explained.
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.