Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherin Ashton[/caption]TEHRAN (FNA)- Sources within the Iranian Foreign Ministry revealed more names of Iran's new nuclear negotiators after they announced yesterday that top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif will be accompanied by two of his deputies in the talks with the six world powers.
Yesterday, an informed source at the Iranian foreign ministry told FNA that "Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi will be present in Iran's new nuclear (negotiation) team".
The same source told FNA on Sunday that Iran's former Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Eshaq Al-e-Habib and Foreign Ministry Director-General for the Economic and Specialized International Affairs Hamid Ba'eedinejad will also join Zarif and his two deputies in the talks with the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).
The source added that two representatives from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) will also be present in the new Iranian team of negotiators.
"The new team of negotiators will have a spokesperson as well," he mentioned.
In relevant remarks earlier this month, Zarif announced that he was restructuring the team of negotiators for talks with the world powers, but meantime underlined that a number of former negotiators would also be present in Iran's new team.
The team of negotiators is a collection of colleagues at foreign ministry and experts of the relevant bodies who will be chosen on the basis of their commitment to the approach of the Government of Hope and Vision (as it has been labeled by President Rouhani since he started his presidential campaign) to international relations and also having an expert view about nuclear issue, Zarif said.
For this purpose we will use friends from the two previous teams as well as new individuals from different organizations and the foreign ministry who have the ability to pursue the talks and to play a constructive role in the advancement of the goals of the negotiations which includes safeguarding the achievements of the Iranian nuclear scientists and protecting the peoples rights in the nuclear field and removal of international communitys concerns, the Iranian foreign minister added.
The restructuring of the team of negotiators started after President Hassan Rouhani shifted the leading role in nuclear talks with the world powers from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) to the countrys foreign ministry.
The information center of the Iranian government said early September that president Rouhani in a decree entrusted the responsibility for negotiations with the Group 5+1 to the foreign ministry.
In remarks to FNA earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham confirmed the report, but said the SNSC would continue coordinating the talks, although the foreign ministry would have the lead.
Iran and the Group 5+1 have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Irans nuclear energy program.The US, Israel and some of their allies claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the unfounded allegation as a pretext to impose sanctions on Iran.
Tehran strongly rejects the groundless claim over its nuclear activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
By Fars News Agency
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