Nuclear Deal Possible If World Powers Show Goodwill: Iran’s Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that goodwill can help Tehran and world powers clinch a final deal, but at the same time noted that Iran would not give up its principles in the nuclear issue.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to hammer out a final agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has entered the negotiations with goodwill and strong determination and it insists on its logical principles and criteria, and if the other side also show goodwill, we will reach the (final) result," Zarif said in a meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Tehran on Tuesday.
Earlier on Sunday, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei affirmed that any nuclear deal between Iran and world powers should be implementable, stressing that "no deal will be better than a bad one," including a two-phased agreement.
Elsewhere in the meeting, Zarif pointed to the ties between Tehran and New Delhi, and hailed the two countries’ close stances in many global issues.
The Iranian official further highlighted the development of Chabahar Port, southeast of Iran, and stressed that the port is very important to Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Central Asia.
Doval, for his part, hailed India’s relations with Iran as strategic and significant, and expressed his country’s willingness to cooperate with Tehran in the fields of energy and industry as well as regional issues, including counter-terrorism measures.
Earlier on Tuesday, Doval and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also held a meeting, during which Rouhani emphasized the importance of closer relations between Tehran and New-Delhi, saying that the ties would serve regional peace and security.