Iran sticks to its principled stance in nuclear talks: Source

An Iranian informed source close to the nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 group has dismissed Western media hype surrounding Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program, saying Iran sticks to its principled stance in the talks.

“Western [media] hype about this issue is baseless,” the source told IRNA on Monday, adding that achievements previously made by Iran and the P5+1 countries are still in place.

“The issue of taking irreversible measures vis-à-vis irreversible measures has been among the principles of the talks since their beginning,” the source said, warning that insistence on illogical stances can slacken the pace of the negotiations.

The source reiterated that Iran still insists on its principled stance on the continuation of the talks to settle the outstanding issues.

The United States and Europe reportedly want the UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran to be automatically reversible, meaning that if Iran violates the deal at any point, the UNSC sanctions will automatically be re-imposed on Tehran.

Russia opposes such a scenario, saying in such a case the UNSC should decide what to do. Moscow says automatic imposition of sanctions goes against the mechanism of the Security Council.

China also shares Russia’s viewpoint and is against the imposition of automatically reversible sanctions on Iran.

Iran-US technical-political meeting

As a deadline for reaching mutual understanding between Iran and the P5+1 countries looms, representatives of Iran and the United States held another technical-political meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi (1st L), and Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi (2nd L) and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi (3rd L) meet with US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz (1st R), US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman (2nd R) and deputy of EU foreign policy chief, Helga Schmid, in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 30, 2015.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman as well as EU foreign policy chief’s deputy, Helga Schmid, were present in the meeting.

The meeting follows earlier talks among Araqchi, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi and Sherman after the end of a plenary meeting among top representatives of the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held a meeting earlier with US Secretary of State John Kerry, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

The final stage of the ongoing talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany – in Lausanne is expected to continue until Tuesday, which has been set as a deadline for reaching mutual understanding in the negotiations.