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More countries may join P5+1 talks

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that aside from Brazil and Turkey, a number of other countries may take part in the new round of talks with world powers.

Tehran has agreed to resume talks with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, the US plus Germany.

“In the preliminary discussion we decide on the setting and the framework and not the content of the talks usually,” President Ahmadinejad said on Monday.

“So I believe in future talks, Brazil, Turkey and some other countries will be taking part,” he added during a press conference in Tehran. Iran will not negotiate over its nuclear rights during the talks.

Asked whether the UK was seeking to force the new round of talks into a deadlock, the Iranian president said it was “too early to judge.”

Responding to a question on whether the talks with the group of six world powers could lead to an agreement on Iran’s enrichment program, Ahmadinejad said Tehran has always declared its readiness for “nuclear cooperation” but would never enter negotiations on its nuclear “rights.”

Ahmadinejad said these rights were clearly stated in the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“We need 20 percent-enriched uranium. They did not provide it and we had to do it ourselves, if they do [provide] it, ok. We believe this would be an exceptional opportunity so that they get themselves out of this trap.”

Responding to a question on the exact date of the talks and the venue for the negotiations, the president said that Iran had proposed two dates for the talks.

One date was acceptable to both parties and an agreement on a venue does not seem to pose any problems at the moments, Ahmadinejad said without elaborating.

The president went on to say that that Islamic Republic has always had a positive relationship with the IAEA.

However, he criticized the UN nuclear agency for caving under pressure from the “masters of power and wealth.”

The president said due to this pressure the IAEA has at times adopted “unfair and illegal stances” against the country’s nuclear program.

“Their recent one (IAEA report) is better than the previous ones and is closer to the truth but still all the facts are not reflected,” he added. “Of course the latest report also has shortcomings, for example all [of Iran’s nuclear] information has been released and these are secret and confidential documents belonging to the country.”

Ahmadinejad said since Iran was following a policy of nuclear transparency, it does not care about the leaks, but called the move ‘illegal.”

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