‘If Iran talks advance, unilateral bans can be lifted’

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says if the talks between Iran and six powers continue to make progress, there will be no reason to maintain the illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – plus Germany held two days of negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program behind closed doors in the Swiss city of Geneva on October 15-16.

“If progress continues at the talks, there’s no reason why we can’t agree on the lifting of all unilateral sanctions. The exact timetable is a matter for discussion,” Ryabkov said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.

The United States and the European Union have imposed illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic under the false allegation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran strongly rejects the accusation.

Iran and the six countries have agreed to meet again in Geneva on November 7-8 after an expert-level meeting.

Meanwhile, the next round of the talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on October 28-29.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities and has never found any evidence showing that Tehran’s nuclear energy program has been diverted toward non-civilian objectives.