...

Expert: Iran-West nuclear talks more political than technical, legal

Iran Materials 20 February 2014 10:25 (UTC +04:00)
Nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 currently have a political aspect and legal and technical issues are a second priority, expert on international relations Davood Hermidas Bavand told Trend on Feb. 18.
Expert: Iran-West nuclear talks more political than technical, legal

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18

By Temkin Jafarov, Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 currently have a political aspect and legal and technical issues are a second priority, expert on international relations Davood Hermidas Bavand told Trend on Feb. 18.

Senior officials from P5+1 (UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) have begun talks on Iran's nuclear issue several days ago in Vienna on Feb. 18 with an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif .

The talks reportedly focused on new and advanced centrifuges as well as the Arak heavy water reactor.

The negotiations are aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord on the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program after the two sides clinched a landmark interim deal in Geneva last November.

Under the Geneva deal which was implemented on January 20, the six countries undertook to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for the country agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period.

Commenting on the readiness of the sides for a withdrawal from certain requests for achieving a success during the upcoming talks, Bavand said that all sides need to ensure the nuclear talks achieve success despite their problems.

Iran wants to pass the sanction-related economic problems, he said, adding that the EU is also facing economic problems and entering the Iranian market would be a good opening.

"US president Barack Obama hopes to resolve the issue during his administration. He is also under pressure by some entities inside the United States," the expert underlined.

While forecasting the result of the nuclear negotiations for a final agreement, he said the talks will be long and complicated.

The first stage of the talks may be successful, but in the next steps negotiations will be longer and more difficult, Bavand remarked.

On Feb. 17, Reuters quoted a senior U.S. official as saying the "talks between Iran and six world powers on a long term deal for Tehran to limit its nuclear program and see international sanctions lifted will be long and complicated with no guarantee of success."

The expert went on to note that considering the negotiator countries` problems as well as regional issues, all sides will benefit if the Iran's nuclear issue is solved.

Maybe in the future other issues such as U.N. Security Council Resolutions will be added to the negotiations, he said, adding that "the issues such as Iran's missile system will not be discussed in the first step of the negotiations."

So the first step is expected to achieve a successful result, he forecasted.

Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Marziyeh Afkham said on Feb. 18 that military issues have no place in the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1.

Zarif has previously stressed that the upcoming talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 would only be limited to the issues agreed in the Joint Plan of Action singed on November 24, 2013.

Earlier the U.S. negotiator Wendy Sherman admitted before Congress that the United States had "not shut down" Iran's ballistic missile program.

"That is indeed something that has to be addressed as part of a comprehensive agreement," Sherman underlined.

Edited by S.M.

Tags:
Latest

Latest