West’s attitude caused N-talks to fail

A top Iranian official says double standards adopted by certain Western countries are the reason why negotiations between Iran and major world powers have failed.

“The adoption of such costly and unsuccessful approaches is because of the West’s wrong calculations about Iran’s capabilities, capacities and initiatives,” Deputy Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Baqeri said in a Wednesday press conference in Beijing.

“Some countries thought they could achieve their goals through certain measures such as imposing sanctions and issuing resolutions,” IRNA quoted Baqeri as saying.

He added that today Iran is carrying out the biggest economic development plan that is unprecedented in the country’s history despite the sanctions imposed by the US, EU and the UN Security Council.

In a politically-motivated move, the US accused Iran of developing a military nuclear program and used this pretext to pressure the UN Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran’s financial and military sectors in June.

Iranian officials have repeatedly refuted the charges, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran has a right to use peaceful nuclear technology.

In response to a question about Iran inviting a number of countries to visit its nuclear sites, the Iranian official said this invitation indicates the transparency in the country’s nuclear program.

Last week, Iran invited envoys representing geographical and political groups in the IAEA to visit Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran’s invitation comes ahead of the multifaceted talks with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany — scheduled for late January in Istanbul, Turkey.

Baqeri, who arrived in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Wednesday, described his talks with Beijing officials on nuclear, regional and international issues as positive and said, “China has always stressed Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.”