[caption id="attachment_150154" align="alignright" width="204"] Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif[/caption]
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says that parties engaged in Iran’s nuclear negotiations need an “element of certainty” in order to yield results as the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program “has always been peaceful”.
“The agreement will have an element of certainty for everybody,” Zarif told Press TV correspondent in the southern German city of Munich on Sunday.

The Iranian top diplomat elaborated on the notion of certainty by saying that the nature of Iran’s nuclear program has always been peaceful and will remain so in future.

 

Sanctions failed

Zarif said that economic sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear activities have not achieved their intended results

“If we started with 200 centrifuges before the sanctions, we have now 25,000 centrifuges and that is the net outcome of sanctions,” he said.

“Sanctions have to go if there is going to be an agreement,” he noted.

Zarif also said that he and his negotiating team have been engaged in extensive negotiations over the past few days in Munich.

The Iranian foreign minister has been in Munich to attend an annual security conference and to hold meetings with his counterparts from the P5+1 countries – the United States, the UK, Germany, France, Russia, and China.

He has held numerous meetings with delegations from the countries except for China, which sent no delegation to the conference.

He said that the Munich Security Conference was a good venue that provided the Iranian delegation with the opportunity to engage in sideline negotiations with other groups.

 

Unity against Takfiris

Zarif also commented on the rising threat of Takfiri terrorist groups in the Middle East and other parts of the world. He regretted that some countries have been cooperating with them to further their policy objectives.

“The sooner the international community and particularly our friends in the region come to realize that they cannot even reap short-time benefits from the existence and cooperation with these Takfiri groups, the sooner we can reach a methodology of how to deal with them,” Zarif said.

He noted that Takfiri mentality is going to be “devastating” for the region and for the entire world, adding such a methodology “has to be based on a multifaceted approach,” rather than taking into account the mere military means for countering the terrorists.

By Press TV