Iran’s Defense Capabilities Off Table in Nuclear Talks: Deputy FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran would by no means allow anybody to raise a discussion of its defensive equipment in the course of talks over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program, an Iranian deputy foreign minister reiterated.
In an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television on Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said Iran has already made it clear that the defensive issues, such as its missile capabilities, have no place in the nuclear talks with world powers.
“The issue of Iran’s missile capability was mooted several times and we completely explained it for the opposite (negotiating) parties that we cannot discuss our defensive systems as well as military and defensive equipment, and we will not allow anyone to raise that issue (during talks),” noted Araqchi, who is also a top member of the Iranian team of nuclear negotiators.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (alternatively known as P5+1 or E3+3) are in talks to reach a final agreement over Tehran’s nuclear energy program and the removal of unjustified sanctions against Iran.
The two sides are supposed to hold meetings in New York in September.
Iran and the sextet –Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany- clinched a landmark interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23, 2013. The agreement took effect on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20.
In July, the two sides agreed on the extension of their discussions until November 24 in an effort to achieve a permanent nuclear deal to settle a decade-long standoff on Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program.
