Baku, Azerbaijan, July 13
By Umid Niayesh, Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
A former Iranian official says on the final day of a nuclear deal between Iran and the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) what differences remain are mostly among the world powers rather than with Iran.
As Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, the six powers have to resolve differences among themselves rather than with Iran, Mahmood Khaghani, former deputy oil minister of Iran told Trend July 13.
"As a proof to that, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said he is visiting Tehran next week with 60 businessmen, which means a cold shoulder to the US, saying Germany is going to have economic relations with Tehran and the US can go on with its sanctions," he said.
A nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers will lift all economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
For example, there is a dispute between American Boeing and the European Airbus plane manufacturers, because Iran needs airplanes and it matters how many airplanes it is going to buy from either of these companies, Khaghani further stated.
The former official also commented on the conventional arms embargo on Iran and said the arms embargo has benefited Iran since it made the country produce the weapons it needed through domestic capabilities.
However, the word sanction is not pleasant and there is a principle issue for Iran in removing the sanctions, Khaghani stated.
He further added that if the arms embargo is lifted, Iran could even turn into an exporter of arms.
If the talks end in a deal, it will benefit the region by reducing tension, he further pointed out.
Toward the end of the July 13 deadline, sources said the arms embargo has turned into the biggest hurdle preventing a deal between Tehran and the world powers. Iran stresses to have all of the sanctions removed, while the Western parties to the negotiations had said the arms embargo would remain in place.
Edited by CN