Chairman of Irans Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says the West should not lose the opportunity to expand relations with the Islamic Republic.The conditions are ripe for the development of relations between Iran and all countries in different sectors, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said in a meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Tehran on Thursday.
The situation that has been created to develop Irans international relations is not for show purposes. [But,] if the Western countries want to keep taking a tough line and seeking excuses, they will lose this opportunity as well, he added.
He said that Iran only wants its rights to be recognized within the framework of international law, adding all countries are entitled to use peaceful nuclear technology.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani stressed that Iran has never sought and will never seek nuclear weapons.
Bildt, for his part, hoped that Iran-Sweden ties would develop in all sectors, particularly in energy.
He said that the final settlement of the dispute over Irans nuclear energy program and a final agreement in the nuclear talks between the Islamic Republic and six world powers could be achieved through goodwill on the part of both sides.
The Swedish foreign minister said that the Geneva interim deal inked between Iran and the six world powers can set the stage for a final and comprehensive agreement over the Islamic Republics nuclear energy program.
The top Swedish diplomat said that his country recognizes Irans right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - plus Germany signed a nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November to pave the way for the full resolution of the decade-old standoff over the Islamic Republics nuclear energy program. The two sides started implementing the agreementon January 20.
By Press TV
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