Tehran, Iran, Nov. 10
By Temkin Jafarov, Milad Fashtami - Trend:
The nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries are moving forward.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs and Special Representative for Caspian Sea Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour told Trend Agency on Nov. 10 that the country designed the nuclear talks based on its own principles.
Rahimpour is on a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan.
"I think the talks are moving forward, and not going backward," he said.
"Apparently the other side is willing to make progress, too. However, the lack of trust never changes instantly," Rahimpour explained.
"We're trying to work out the differences and we are hopeful to reach our certain rights," he said, adding that country expects the West to accept that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapon.
"We'll accept any mechanism which doesn't deprive us from nuclear technology," he said.
The official went on to note that difficult works never bear fruit overnight and need mutual trust building.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, US Secretary of State John Kerry, and Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy's former chief who heads P5+1 in nuclear talks with Tehran, have started the second day of trilateral nuclear talks in Omani capital Muscat.
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.
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.
Iran and P5+1 are negotiating to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement until Nov.24.
Zarif told on Nov.9 before leaving Tehran that the talks in Oman will focus on disputes between the two parties, mainly about uranium enrichment and lifting of sanctions as well as the duration of comprehensive agreement.
The United States, France, Britain and Germany would like the number of enrichment centrifuges Iran maintains to be in the low thousands, while Tehran wants to keep tens of thousands in operation. It now has about 19,000 installed, of which about 10,000 are spinning to refine uranium.
The Western countries imposed sanctions over Iran's oil revenues, as well as the Central Bank of Iran in mid-2012.
The West is also reportedly keen to expand the duration of comprehensive nuclear agreement for two decades, but Iran demands that this time be short.