No Parliament Observer to Attend Geneva Talks: MP
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said on Monday that the legislature will have no observer member in the nuclear negotiations with the Group of 5+1 in Geneva.
“Unfortunately, we still have not received any response from the foreign ministry, and therefore, no parliament member will be present in the Geneva talks,” Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Tasnim News Agency on Monday.
"This issue needs to be studied, but it is not quite clear yet," said Asafari when asked if there would be such an observer MP in the next rounds of Iran’s nuclear talks with the world powers.
An Iranian deputy foreign minister had said on Sunday that the country's top officials have not decided on the lawmakers' proposal to send an observer member to nuclear talks with the six world powers.
“This is a new and unprecedented issue,” Deputy Foreign Minister for Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriates Affairs Hassan Qashqavi told Tasnim News Agency, reacting to a proposal offered by some members of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Affairs Commission.
He added that the new proposal must be studied by the top officials, including those at the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
The Iranian Foreign Ministry had on September 24 said that it was ready to study a proposal by lawmakers to send an observer member to nuclear talks with the six world powers.
The issue was raised by a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, but it is still a suggestion, Qashqavi told Tasnim at the time.
“The foreign ministry has still not received a written request in this regard... but due to the sensitivities of the nuclear issue, this suggestion needs to be studied further,” Qashqavi added.
This comes as Iran's team of nuclear negotiators, led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, is to start two days of talks with the G5+1, members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, on Tuesday.
Iran 's foreign minister will be present in the negotiations only if other parties are represented by their foreign ministers. In case the meeting is not held at the foreign ministers level, the deputy of Iran's foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Abbas Araqchi, will lead Iran's negotiating team.