Iran to quit talks if others impose will: Araqchi

A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator says Iran will quit the nuclear talks with the P5+1 should the other parties try to impose their will on the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said on Monday that the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 should be geared toward meeting the interests of both sides and a win-win solution.

“If that does not happen, and if one side attempts to impose its will in the talks through means other than negotiating, we, too, will certainly be under no compunction to leave the negotiating table,” Araqchi said.

“But,” he said, “that is not the situation we are in right now.”
The senior Iranian negotiator was responding to a question about the recent remarks made by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said the US has no inclination to extend the talks with Iran past the March 31 deadline.

“[US] President [Barack] Obama has no inclination whatsoever to extend these talks beyond the period that has been set out,” Kerry told a press conference at the US embassy in London on Saturday.

Araqchi also said that Iranian negotiators will continue the talks with strong will and determination and “whenever we sense that the negotiations are not proceeding in line with the nation and the country’s interests and toward the defined objectives, we will definitely quit negotiating.”

He further said that it has been proven to the United States and the other members of P5+1 that “political and media pressure can by no means cause the Islamic Republic of Iran to alter its method, demands and position in the talks.”

Araqchi said the remarks by Kerry will have no effects on the talks, and that Iran will continue the talks as long as the language of respect is used during the talks.

He also evaluated the atmosphere of the talks as being “constructive and useful.”

Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers – Britain, France, China, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – have been holding talks to resolve a dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

While the P5+1 has been seeking a high-profile political deal by the end of March and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1, Iran has said it only accepts an overarching deal that is reached in one stage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on February 21, “No other deal will be reached before a complete agreement is clinched.”