FM: No Slowdown in Iran’s Nuclear Program under Sanctions
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian foreign minister on Friday denounced the unilateral sanctions imposed on the country as “illegal tool” to impose pressure on Tehran, asserting that the restrictions have failed to undermine Iran's peaceful nuclear activities.
“Iran’s nuclear program has not declined due to sanctions,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Friday.
“The sanctions contradict the international laws and will be of no avail,” the Iranian diplomat underscored.
As regards the diplomatic negotiations between Iran and six world powers to settle a decade-long standoff on Tehran’s nuclear case, Zarif said the ultimate goal in the talks is to “clear up ambiguities over the peacefulness of Iran’s nuclear program.”
He also expressed the hope that nuclear talks between Iran and the sextet of world powers (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) would yield result in a short span of time.
The Russian minister, for his part, affirmed that Iran is entitled to exercise the right of enriching uranium.
And on the marathon talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, Lavrov said, “In the nuclear negotiations we attempt to make the interests of all side fulfilled in a fair manner.”
While an interim deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (alternatively known as P5+1 or E3+3), expired on July 20, the two sides have extended discussions until November 24 in the hope of striking a permanent, comprehensive deal.
The negotiating parties are supposed to hold meetings in New York in September.