Zarif – Ashton: We Extend JPA Articles’Validity Till June 30, 2015

Vienna – Iranian foreign minister and Sextet coordinator announced in a joint communiqué here Monday night that they extend the validity of Geneva Joint Plan of Action (JPA) till June, 30, 2015 to provide time for more talks.

“We, and the foreign ministers of the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) agreed to continue our diplomatic efforts,” reads the joint communiqué.

‘We intend to use the currently generated acceleration to finalize the negotiations in shortest possible time, maximum within 4 months, and if necessary to use the remainder of time till June 30 to finalize any probable technical process, or needed drafting, it adds.

The communiqué says that Iran and the G5+1 once again emphasize that they will still remain committed to observing the articles of their JPA effectively and on time.

The IAEA is asked in the joint communiqué to keep on supervising on voluntary acts in accordance with the JPA.

It also notes that the next round of negotiations will be held in a short while in December.

“We preferred to finalize the comprehensive agreement right here in Vienna, but based on the achieved progress and since the newly proposed ideas are in need of greater surveys, we are sure that a trustworthy path towards a comprehensive agreement does exist,” it reads.

They have also appreciated the Austrian government for their generous hosting of these negotiations in Vienna.

Objective, reaching agreement in shortest possible time, says Zarif

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad JavadZarif said Monday night that we do not intend to use the whole period of extended 7 months for negotiations, but to reach comprehensive final agreement within the shortest possible time.

“The efforts made in the course of the past year have led to the presentation of various solutions today at our disposal, enabling us to draw the perspective of the final comprehensive agreement near at hand,” Zarif said in a press conference after the issuance of his joint communiqué with Catherine Ashton.

Zarif reiterated that those various and possible solutions are for making sure that the Iranian nuclear program will remain peaceful on the one hand, and the unjustly imposed sanctions will be properly lifted and they can be viewed amid the existence of certain differences of opinion.

“The Vienna negotiations contributed greatly to the progress in this path and this extension is aimed at providing a short while for reaching agreement,” he reiterated.

The IRNA reported referred to the US Secretary of State John Kerry’s comment that the world is a safer place today than it was last year, asking Zarif his idea on his US counterpart’s comment.

“We are glad that the world has less concerns, but regarding the Iranian nuclear program, there was actually no reason to be worries, as it had both initially, and always, been peaceful,” replied Zarif.

He said that creating worries about the Iranian peaceful nuclear program at the international scene was the objective pursued by a certain group, but such propagations do not sell well in the world today.

He said that both sides wished to tell the press that the political agreement was achieved right today, but it was necessary to further discuss the minute details and the complicated technical points.

“We were sure that at least for completing drafting the text we needed more time,” Zarif added.

He added that achieving a greater extent of progress was possible, but the achieved extent, too, is quite noteworthy.

“Any minister that left the session said that the achieved progress was noteworthy and achieving agreement is possible, which is something that one year ago even wishing for it seemed a remote possibility,” he reiterated.

The Iranian foreign minister reiterated that Iran and the Sextet have reached a good point and will continue the same method to achieve a good result.

Iran committed to Joint Action Plan, says Kerry

In the same context,US Secretary of State John Kerry says Iran has lived up to its commitments based on the Geneva nuclear deal with the six world powers, but noted that the anti-Tehran sanctions will remain in place.

Speaking at a Monday press conference in Vienna after the last round of nuclear negotiations, Kerry pointed to criticism of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), signed between Iran and the P5+1 last November, noting, “The interim agreement wasn’t violated. Iran has held up its end of the bargain, and the sanctions regime has remained intact.”

“We want the people of Iran to get the economic relief that they seek and to be able to rejoin the international community. We want to terminate the sanctions. Yes, we want to terminate the sanctions,” the secretary of state said.

“Today, Iran has no 20-percent enriched uranium; zero; none; and they have diluted and converted every ounce that they have and suspended all uranium enrichment above five percent,” Kerry said, adding, “Today, IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors have daily access to Iran’s enrichment activities and a far deeper understanding of Iran’s program.”

“That is how you build trust and that is how Iran made the decision to do it,” Kerry said, pointing out that the IAEA inspectors “have been able to verify that Iran is indeed living up to its JPOA commitments.”

He lauded the achievements made in the course of latest round of nuclear negotiations, saying, “In these last days in Vienna, we have made real and substantial progress and we have seen new ideas surface.”

“Progress was indeed made on some of the most vexing challenges that we face and we now see the path toward potentially resolving some issues that had been intractable,” the top US diplomat noted, adding, “We believe a comprehensive deal that addresses the world’s concerns is possible. It is desirable.”

He also praised the efforts by all the parties engaged in the talks, including the efforts devoted by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad JavadZarif, saying, “The Iranian foreign minister has worked hard and he has worked diligently, has approached these negotiations in good faith and…that is what it takes to try to resolve the kind of difficult issues here.”

“We are jointly – the P5+1 six nations and Iran – extending these talks for seven months with a very specific goal of finishing the political agreement within four months.… At the end of four months, if we have not agreed on the major elements by that point in time – and there is no clear path – we can revisit [to see] how we then want to choose to proceed,” Kerry said.

IRNA, PRESS T.V

R.S