Rouhani’s Special Aide Joins Nuclear Talks

Geneva – An special aide to President Hassan Rouhani joined the nuclear talks underway in Geneva between Iran and the United States.

Director of the media diplomacy department of the Foreign Ministry Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that Hossein Fereydoun has joined the Iranian team to give consultations and make the necessary coordination as the negotiations are going forward to a comprehensive deal.

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali-Akbar Salehi, his deputy Behrouz Kamalvandi along with deputies of foreign minister Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi are currently in Geneva for nuclear talks with US top negotiator Wendy Sherman and US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry are scheduled to arrive in Geneva on Sunday.

Joined by Helga Schmid, the deputy of EU foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini, the nuclear talks will proceed trilaterally.

On Friday, the Iranian and US deputy foreign ministers and Schmid held five hours of talks. Experts of the two countries also held a separate meeting for two-and-a-half hours.

A high-profile expert-level meeting is to be held later in the day co-chaired by Salehi and Moniz.

IRNA reporter in Geneva said that deputy foreign ministers of other members of the P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plus Germany) may join the talks in coming days.

Representatives of Iran and the six governments are aiming to reach a political understanding by March and agree on a comprehensive deal by a self-imposed June 30 deadline.

Final nuclear agreement not out of reach

Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission on Saturday praised negotiation expertise of Iranian delegation in nuclear talks, arguing that a comprehensive final agreement is not out of reach.

‘The final agreement is not out of reach, on condition that the other side, too, believe in some fundamentals,’ Mansur Haqiqatpur, the 2nd vice chairman of the parliamentary commission told IRNA, adding that the Iranian nuclear negotiation team will play its revolutionary role perfectly well.

‘The other side in the negotiations is both totalitarian and oppressor, intending to trample upon our rights and under such conditions reaching a prestigious agreement is a tough job,’ he confessed.

Haqiqatpur said that if the other side continue negotiations within a legal framework it will be O.K. , but if it sets aside the legal framework and start bullying; the Iranians will never yield to it.

‘We support our (nuclear) negotiating team because it is a professional one since it negotiates based on the defined guidelines,’ he reiterated.

He once again criticized Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif  for taking a walk with the US Secretary of State John Kerry, but emphasized that even the critics approve of the performance of the nuclear negotiating team.

‘They are the offspring of the revolution and the ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s political system who are presently performing their sensitive and revolutionary job perfectly,’ he reiterated.

R.S