Iran defense programs non-negotiable: Araqchi

A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator has said that issues related to the country’s defense programs are “non-negotiable.”

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi made the remarks in an interview with Iran’s national broadcaster on Sunday night.

Araqchi said defense issues of the Islamic Republic are “non-negotiable” and are a “red line” in any negotiation between Tehran and the Sextet of world powers.

The Iranian official said the talks between Tehran and the Sextet – Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany — are limited to Iran’s nuclear energy program and other issues will not be discussed.

Araqchi’s remarks come after, in a testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 4, Wendy Sherman, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and US President Barack Obama administration’s top negotiator with Iran, questioned Tehran’s need to maintain a number of its nuclear facilities.

On February 5, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected Sherman’s comments as “worthless.”

“Iran’s nuclear technology is non-negotiable and comments about Iran’s nuclear facilities are worthless and there is no need to negotiate or hold talks about them,” Zarif said.

Iran and the six major world powers inked a nuclear accord in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24 last year. The two sides started implementing the agreement on January 20.

Under the Geneva agreement, the six countries agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building measure to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities for a six-month period.