FM: Iran’s Nuclear Program to Remain Intact

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that Tehran will continue its peaceful nuclear energy program and will not close any of its facilities.
“I can tell you that Iran’s nuclear program will remain intact and we will not close any program,” the Iranian foreign minister told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

Meantime, he underlined that Tehran is ready to do anything necessary to prove that its nuclear program is peaceful, and said, “I hope that a final nuclear agreement would be reached between Tehran and the six world powers by the end of July.”

Last Thursday, Iran and six world powers agreed on an agenda for negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. The talks will continue in Vienna next month.

This indicates an early step forward in the elusive search for a settlement of the decade-old dispute, even though the sides remain far apart on how to resolve it and both Iran and the United States have publicly stated it may not be possible to reach a final agreement.

Negotiators from Iran and the Sextet of the world powers met in Vienna on February 18-20 to hammer out an agenda for talks on a final deal to the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear activities.

A senior US state department official earlier said about the second day of talks on Wednesday, “Today’s discussions, which covered both process and substance, were constructive and useful.”

The negotiations will probably extend at least over several months, and could help defuse years of hostility between energy-exporting Iran and the West, ease the danger of a new war in the Middle-East, transform the regional power balance and open up major business opportunities for western firms.

On November 24, Iran and the G5+1 sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and continue talks with the country to settle all problems between the two sides and reach a comprehensive agreement.