Iran ready to hold nuclear talks in "win-win" situation: FM
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E-mail Xinhua, September 8, 2012
Iran ready to hold nuclear talks in "win-win" situation: FM
TEHRAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Saturday that his country is ready to hold negotiations with world powers on Iran's nuclear program in a win- win situation, Press TV reported.
"We have repeatedly expressed our readiness and announced that we are ready for talks in a win-win situation," Salehi was quoted as saying.
Iran has never lost the "opportunity for diplomacy," said the foreign minister.
"Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has asserted that Iran's nuclear energy program is peaceful," Salehi said, adding that "If there is any problem today, it is the problem of the West and the United States."
In the past years, several rounds of talks over the controversial nuclear program of the Islamic republic have been carried out, but bear no breakthrough to peaceful settlement of the issue.
During intensive talks in Russia's capital of Moscow on June 18- 19, Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), did not sign any agreements but agreed to meet again in Turkey's Istanbul in July at the expert level. In July, Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator Ali Baqeri said that the nuclear talks with deputy head of the EU's foreign relations in Istanbul were "positive." However, no date and venue was set for further high-level negotiations.
The United States, Israel and some Western countries suspect the Iranian nuclear program is a cover for building nuclear weapons. The Islamic republic has rejected the allegations and insisted on the "peaceful" nature of its nuclear activities.
The United States and the EU have imposed several rounds of sanctions to pressure Iran to give up its uranium enrichment activities.
Although Iran has stated that Western sanctions have had no significant impacts on the economy of the country, Iran's currency, rial, has been depreciating against major foreign currencies including the U.S. dollar significantly in the past year and domestic inflation has been rising. Enditem
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