Iran-P5+1 negotiations merely nuclear: Velayati

A top Iranian official says nuclear issue will be the only topic on the agenda of negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group.

Iran’s negotiating team would not discuss any issue other than Tehran’s nuclear energy program in its talks with the Sextet, which comprises Russia, China, France, the UK, the US and Germany, said Ali Akbar Velayati who is a top advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Velayati further pointed to Iran’s great achievements in its defense sector, saying it is Tehran’s “inalienable” right to bolster its defense capabilities and that the Islamic Republic will not seek permission from anybody to reinforce its defense potential.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow any person or country to interfere in its domestic and defense affairs…,” added Velayati who is also president of the Center for Strategic Research at the Expediency Council.

Velayati quoted Iranian nuclear negotiators as saying that “if any issue other than the nuclear case is brought up [in the talks], they will leave the negotiation session.”

Over the past days, American officials have repeatedly said that Iran’s missiles would be addressed under a final nuclear deal with Tehran.

Tehran and the six countries signed an interim accord in Geneva, Switzerland, last November in an effort to pave the way for the full resolution of the decade-old standoff over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.