( RIA Novosti ) - Tehran is counting on the success of a meeting in Madrid between Iran's top nuclear negotiator and the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, an Iranian diplomat said Thursday.
Ali Larijani arrived Wednesday evening in Madrid, the capital of Spain, for talks with Solana on the Iranian nuclear dossier.
"We hope for a successful completion of the meeting and that it will open the way to direct negotiations on Iran's 'nuclear dossier,'" said Akhmad Reza Khermand, spokesman for Iran's embassy in Madrid.
He said Iran has rights and obligations under international law and with respect to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and that it will honor its obligations. But he said it also expects its rights to be honored.
"The outcome of the current talks is in Solana's hands," he said.
But Solana was quoted by diplomatic sources as saying he doubts the talks will be a success.
"Solana is pessimistic about the outcome of the upcoming negotiations with Larijani, despite the good relations that exist between the two diplomats," the Spanish newspaper El Pais said in its online version Thursday.
Larijani said Wednesday Iran is ready to provide the West with "all necessary guarantees" that it does not intend to create an atomic bomb, adding that the Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions proved it has no interest in acquiring nuclear weapons. He said that " Tehran is ready for other countries, for example France, to join talks on the Iranian nuclear dossier."
Larijani and Solana last met in Ankara April 25-26, and there was some progress made at the talks in finding common ground on some issues.
Iran failed to comply with a 60-day deadline to stop uranium enrichment imposed by the UN Security Council and has increased uranium enrichment, saying its nuclear program is aimed exclusively at power generation.
Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said last week it was too late to force Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment plans and proposed introducing inspection measures instead to prevent a further expansion of the Iranian nuclear program.
The United States has threatened Iran with further sanctions.