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Iran Dismisses Reports on Appointment of New Chief Negotiator

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Iran rejected media reports that President Hassan Rouhani has appointed Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as the country’s new chief negotiator in talks with the world powers, and said no decision has been made yet.
“No decision has yet been taken in this regard,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi told FNA on Tuesday, dismissing a report by the AP saying that Zarif would take the lead in Iran’s talks with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, Britain, China, France and Germany).

Earlier today, Araqchi told a weekly press conference in Tehran that the foreign ministry and other related bodies are “waiting for President Rouhani to choose the country’s chief negotiator”, and added, “Whenever he specifies the negotiating chief and team, the next step will be specifying the time of the negotiations.”

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Zarif underlined Tehran’s readiness to resume talks with the Group 5+1 in a bid to reach a solution to the nuclear standoff between the two sides.

“Mrs. Ashton contacted me and expressed her desire to resume talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 and in response I reiterated that the Islamic Republic is willing to resume talks,” Zarif said.

“In the phone conversation, I told Mrs. Ashton that we favor a solution instead of merely engaging in talks,” Zarif added.

Catherine Ashton, who is the European Union foreign policy chief, is representing the Group 5+1 talks with Iran.

Iran and the Group 5+1 group have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The two sides wrapped up their latest round of negotiations on April 6 in the Kazakh city of Almaty. An earlier meeting had been held in the city on February 26-27.

The US, Israel and some of their allies claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the unfounded allegation as a pretext to impose sanctions on Iran.

Tehran strongly rejects the groundless claim over its nuclear activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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