Iran Asks West Not to Endanger Nuclear Talks

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and senior negotiator Majid Takht Ravanchi urged the western members of the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) to avoid troubling attainment of a final nuclear deal through improper positions.

“The solutions have been specified in the Lausanne negotiations and we hope that the other side will not throw the wrench during the future negotiations, and rather pave the ground for reaching a comprehensive agreement by showing good will,” Takht Ravanchi said in a meeting with Latvian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andrejs Pildegovičs in Tehran on Sunday.

He also underscored the necessity for the removal of all sanctions concurrent with implementation of Iran’s undertakings.

Elsewhere, Takht Ravanchi stressed expansion of economic and trade cooperation with Latvia, and said the energy, petrochemicals, transportation, agriculture, environment, scientific and technical sectors are proper grounds for the development of mutual cooperation.

Pildegovičs, for his part, said that his country which is the rotating president of the EU Council is pleased with the growing trend of broadening bilateral relations between Tehran and the EU, adding that a final deal between Iran and the world powers would open new windows for the further consolidation of ties between Tehran and the EU.

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari warned on Saturday that all sanctions against Iran should be removed in a single step, otherwise the nuclear talks between Tehran and the world powers could end up in failure.

Addressing a gathering of IRGC commanders on Saturday, Gen. Jafari said, “No binding agreement has been made yet; only some solutions have been found and the enemy seems to have admitted the Islamic Republic’s principles and redlines in area of technical issues. Yet, there are still ambiguities about the way the sanctions should be lifted, which need to become transparent; we should know that this very issue about the sanctions removal can lead to failure in (obtaining a final) agreement.”

In similar remarks on Tuesday, Gen. Jafari underscored that termination of all sanctions and possession of the full nuclear fuel cycle are Iran’s redline in any nuclear agreement with the world powers.

“In addition to the right of possessing the nuclear enrichment cycle and Research and Development (R&D), termination of all the relevant sanctions which are the centerpiece of the Iranian nation’s demands are our redline,” Jafari said, addressing IRGC commanders in Tehran on Tuesday.

Jafari, meantime, said in his Tuesday remarks that a difficult path is still ahead of diplomatic efforts given the US untrust worthiness and non-commitment to its undertakings.

The remarks by the top commander seem to be a response to the statements made by various US officials in the last week that a pact with Tehran would not go through unless sanctions are removed in phases.

“The fact of the matter is we have a framework and the president said if the details don’t bear out the agreement that was reached, we’re not going to get a final deal,” Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said in Panama on the opening day of the Summit of the Americas on Friday.

“I think it’s very clear and understood that sanctions relief will be phased, with respect to Iran,” he reiterated, according to a washington examiner report.

However, critics say the Obama administration has oversold the “historic understanding” with Iran that the president hailed last week, and argue the White House is desperate to put a positive spin on talks central to Obama’s legacy, the report added.

FNA

R.S