Russia: Iran,World Powers Far Apart on Uranium Enrichment
TEHRAN — The positions of Iran and the six world powers are “far apart” on the issue of uranium enrichment, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov saiddespite the remarks by the two sides’ top negotiators about progress in their nuclear talks.
Ryabkov, also Russia’s representative in talks with Tehran on its nuclear program, meantime, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that Iran and the powers agree that a solution should be based on an interim agreement reached in November.
His remarks came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed pleasure in the recent nuclear talks with the world powers, and said major progress has been made in the negotiations.
“Today the other side has finally grasped what we had been trying to say, specially when it comes to the practical needs of having a nuclear program which is logical and peaceful. And this by itself is a major progress,” Zarif told the Islamic republic news agency on Thursday.
Another successful outcome of Vienna II has been the fact that the position of all sides on the four major issues — enrichment, sanctions, international peaceful nuclear cooperation and the Arak reactor — has been clarified, according to Zarif.
What is also noteworthy is that dismantling parts of Iran’s nuclear program is not on the agenda and that there are already discussions on removing sanctions against Iran, he said.
“However, we are not at the stage yet to draft a statement to predict how big the differences still are,” he added.
On November 24, Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the latter’s nuclear energy program.
In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of the world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and impose no nuclear-related sanctions on Iran during the six-month period.
Last week work continued by Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) for striking a final and comprehensive deal, and representatives of the seven nations had several sessions of talks in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to Zarif, experts of the seven nations will convene in Vienna on April 3 to 5 and then the top negotiators of Iran and the world powers will meet for another round of talks on April 7 to 9.
Source: FNA
R.S