Iran determined to resolve nuclear issue: Rafsanjani

Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has underscored the Islamic Republic’s determination to help resolve the dispute over its nuclear energy program.

At a Saturday meeting of the Expediency Council, Ayatollah Rafsanjani pointed to Iran’s nuclear negotiations with six world powers and noted, “The world should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran, while reserving its nuclear rights, calls for interaction and dialog to resolve the [nuclear] issue.”

Pointing to nuclear negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the six world powers – the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China – he added, “We will defend our legal rights in the course of these negotiations.”

The veteran Iranian politician also called for national support for the Iranian nuclear negotiating team.

The latest round of high-level nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six countries ended on Wednesday in Vienna.

The two sides have agreed to resume their negotiations on May 13.

Negotiators from both sides say a final nuclear agreement can be reached within three months.

Iran and the six world powers sealed an interim deal in Geneva on November 24, 2013, to pave the way for the full resolution of the decade-old dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program. The deal came into force on January 20.

Under the Geneva deal, dubbed the Joint Plan of Action, the six countries have undertaken to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for the Islamic Republic agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period.