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Iran not to be blamed if nuclear talks fail to reach agreement before deadline

Nuclear Program Materials 9 November 2014 11:30 (UTC +04:00)
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi said that if Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries fail to reach a comprehensive agreement by November 24, fair observers would never blame Iran for the failure.
Iran not to be blamed if nuclear talks fail to reach agreement before deadline

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 9
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi said that if Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries fail to reach a comprehensive agreement by November 24, fair observers would never blame Iran for the failure.

"The Americans are not ready to easily accept Iran's progress in the nuclear field. We currently have 20,000 centrifuges and only half of them produce nuclear-related materials. We are not in 2005 anymore, so we cannot discuss the same issues again," he explained.

Iranian official went on to note that Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) so it expected to be treated like any other member.

"Economic sanctions did not force Iran to take part in the talks, but Tehran wanted to show to the whole world that the country has nothing to hide," he said.

Takht Ravanchi made the remark in an interview with Germany's Spiegel Online.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is currently in Oman's capital Muscat for trilateral talks with his US counterpart John Kerry, and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton.

The two-day talks will kick-off on November 9.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi on Nov. 8 expressed hope that this round of nuclear talks between will be fruitful.

"Iran is taking the talks seriously and we can see the will in the other side as well, so reaching a comprehensive deal is not out of reach," he said.

"None of the parties wants to go back to the situation before the Geneva deal," Araqchi said, adding that such move would be a dangerous scenario.

He went on to note that the Muscat talks will only include the nuclear issue.

"No other topic would be discussed during the talks," he explained.

He once again stressed that Iran will not accept any sanction to remain in place in the final and comprehensive deal with the P5+1 group of countries.

Araqchi said on October 25 that Iran will not shut down any nuclear facility.

He added that the country will keep all of its nuclear capabilities.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on October 22 that 90 percent of the negotiations have been completed and the two sides are taking the final steps.

According to Afkham, the two sides are not interested in extending the 24-November deadline set for striking a final and comprehensive deal.

Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council comprising of China, France, Russia, Britain, the US Plus Germany) sealed an interim deal in Geneva on November 24, 2013 to pave the way for the full resolution of the West's decade-old dispute with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program, Press TV reported.

The Geneva deal took effect on January 20 and expired on July 20. However the two sides agreed to extend their talks for four months till Nov. 24 to reach a permanent deal on Iran's disputed nuclear program.

In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the US and its allies agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran.

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