Tehran, Iran, June 7
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran will hold bilateral negotiations with some members of the P5+1 this week.
Seyed Abbas Araqchi, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said the negotiations will be held before the next round of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 in Vienna, ISNA News Agency said on June 7.
"Deputy foreign ministers of Iran and the other side will hold the negotiations," Araqchi explained.
The next round of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 is scheduled to be held on June 16-20 in Vienna.
Prior to the Vienna meeting, Iranian and U.S. delegations will hold a bilateral meeting in Geneva on June 9, and another meeting will be held between the delegations of Iran and Russia in Rome, on June 11, according to ISNA.
Araqchi previously said the P5+1 recognized the country's right to enrich uranium in the latest round of nuclear talks between the two sides in Geneva.
The official said the Western side also accepted that the Fordo nuclear facility remains active and that the Arak reactor continues working under a compromise formula, according to ISNA.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator once again highlighted that the country has no plans to produce nuclear weapons.
"Iran's secret for success is the country's ability to say 'no' to the West," he said.
Araqchi said on May 21 that the country will never negotiate over its defence system with the P5+1.
"The other side insists on putting the issue of Iranian missiles on the agenda of nuclear talks with Tehran," he said, adding that Tehran has so far prevented this, and will continue doing so until the end of the talks, ISNA said on May 21.
Araqchi went on to note that Tehran and the P5+1 disagreed on most of the topics on the agenda in recent talks in Vienna.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the U.S., China, Russia, France and the UK - plus Germany wrapped up their latest round of the high-level nuclear talks in the Austrian capital Vienna on May 16.
Iran and the six countries have been discussing ways to iron out differences and start drafting a final deal that would end the West's decade-old dispute with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program.
In November 2013, the two sides signed an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva that came into force on January 20.