Chief Negotiator: Iran’s Defense Capabilities Not on Agenda of Nuclear Talks

“I assure you that the Islamic Republic’s defense and our defensive capabilities will not be the subject of negotiations,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in Vienna on Tuesday night, after a dinner banquet with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who liaises with Iran on behalf of the six countries –Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany.

Representatives from Iran and the six nations have gathered in the Austrian capital to hold a fresh round of high-profile nuclear talks, which begin on Wednesday and are expected to extend over three days.

As regards his meeting with Ashton, Zarif said they had a “good and comprehensive” discussion compared with the previous meetings, stressing that the forthcoming negotiations will be “definitely more sensitive”, since drafting a final agreement will be started.

The negotiating parties have set an agenda for drafting the text of the long-expected agreement in the forthcoming talks as part of efforts to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear case once and for all.

Iran and the G5+1 (also known as P5+1 or E3+3) have already clinched an interim nuclear deal in Switzerland in November last year, which stipulates that over the course of six months, they will draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal which will lead to a lifting of the whole sanctions on Iran.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif reiterated that an ultimate agreement is possible, but it depends on “how the other side enters the talks with goodwill and realism.”

The top negotiator underlined that Iran does not pursue anything more than its rights, but at the same time stressed that the country “will not relinquish its rights”.

He also expressed the hope that a final deal would be achieved within a “logical timeframe”, although three more rounds of talks are scheduled by the middle of July.