A senior Iranian legislator has described the country’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as a professional negotiator, who can adroitly conduct talks over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
“Nuclear talks are of an expert and professional nature, and the highest level of expertise in this regard can be found in the Foreign Ministry (negotiating) team,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Thursday.

He further noted that negotiations and the competence to conduct them form part of Iran’s national interests concerning the nuclear issue.

“The issue of nuclear talks is replete with decisions to do with national interests and resistance against the West’s avarice. It must therefore be managed wisely and prudently,” Boroujerdi stated.

On Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially assigned the Foreign Ministry to take charge of future nuclear talks with the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany.

The talks were previously conducted by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Iran and the P5+1 group have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Iran’s nuclear energy program. The two sides wrapped up their last round of negotiations on April 6 in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

In August, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who heads the P5+1 group’s delegation to the talks, and Rouhani expressed readiness to enter into “meaningful” negotiations.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that the Iranian nuclear program has been diverted toward military objectives.

By Press TV

 

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