P5+1 must recognize Iran uranium enrichment right: Iran’s Jalili

Secretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili has called on the P5+1 group of world powers to recognize Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy, particularly its right to enrich uranium.

During a meeting with students at a university in Kazakhstan’s former capital city, Almaty, on Thursday, Jalili reaffirmed the Iranian nation’s inalienable right to enrich uranium as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Iranian chief negotiator noted that the P5+1 — the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — is once again subject to a great test with regards to Tehran’s nuclear energy program during the upcoming comprehensive talks, urging the group to learn lessons from their past miscalculations.

He further stated that the recognition of Iran’s right to achieve nuclear technology by the P5+1 would start a new chapter in bilateral negotiations.

Jalili, who heads Iranian negotiating team, left Tehran for Almaty to take part in the second round of talks with the P5+1 in the Kazak city of Almaty on Wednesday.

The Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group will hold two days of negotiations in Almaty on April 5 and 6, with the main focus being on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

Tehran and the P5+1 have already held several rounds of talks the last round of which took place in Almaty 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 the US and the European Union using the false claim as pretext to impose illegal sanctions against Iran.

Tehran rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the NPT and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.