Iran, P5+1 Countries Enter Decisive Phase of Nuclear Diplomacy

Local Editor

Iran and the P5+1 countries entered the decisive phase of diplomacy to draft the text of a comprehensive agreement over Iran's nuclear energy program on Wednesday, with the aim of resolving the decade-old dispute in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The three-day talks are expected to focus on drafting an agreement that will provide a comprehensive agreement to Iran's nuclear program between Iran and the P5+1 countries.

Upon his arrival in Vienna on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated to reporters: "In the fourth round of nuclear negotiations hosted by Vienna, we will start negotiations and exchange of views on the text of a final agreement and we are ready to firmly hold talks and defend the rights of the Iranian nation."

"We have come to negotiate with firm determination to safeguard the rights of the Iranian nation and reach a conclusion and we have enough time to achieve this end," he added.
"Several rounds of intense and hard talks have been envisaged which would get underway from this stage and three rounds of further negotiations have also been envisioned for the future," Zarif pointed out.
Zarif further added later on Tuesday that the country's defense capabilities will never be on the agenda of nuclear talks with the P5+1 countries. He stated: "I assure [you] that the defense capabilities and systems of the Islamic Republic of Iran have never been a topic of our discussions, and will never be in the future."

Furthermore, a senior Iranian official and the aide to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ali Akbar Velayati, told IRNA on Tuesday that Iran will not relinquish its right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
"With the firm determination that is based on safeguarding the Iranian nation's right to use peaceful nuclear energy, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be present at the [nuclear] talks with the P5+1 group and will by no means give up this right," Velayati said.

Moreover, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that it is the US not Iran that must make tough decisions in nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries.
Araqchi made the statement in reaction to remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry who said on May 6 that Iran must make very tough decisions over its nuclear energy program.
"We ... advise the American side to stop making decisions based on illusions and in fact it is the Americans that must make tough decisions in negotiations and stop threats and sanctions because this will be a historic decision for American officials," Araqchi told reporters on Tuesday night.

He said that all P5+1 countries, especially the US, have come to the conclusion that threats and sanctions are "ineffective" tools in the course of negotiations.
The fourth round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 countries- the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain - plus Germany is believed to be the most sensitive stage in the talks as negotiators are set to begin drafting the text of a comprehensive agreement aimed at fully resolving the decade-old dispute between the West and Iran over the latter's nuclear energy program.

The two sides are working to reach a comprehensive deal following the interim accord that was reached on November 24, 2013 and which went into force on January 20.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team