5+1 should respond positively to Iran’s goodwill: senior Iraqi cleric

TEHRAN, April 21 (MNA) -- The leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Ammar al-Hakim called on world powers to positively respond to the goodwill that Iran demonstrated during the Istanbul talks. Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) held a new round of talks in Istanbul on April 14, breaking a 15-month hiatus in talks, and agreed to meet again in Baghdad on May 23. Hakim, according to a translation of his comments, said, “We closely monitored Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the 5+1 group member states in Istanbul, prudently support such steps toward resolving the dispute, and defend the absolute right of every nation to peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the Persian service of the Fars News Agency reported on Friday. “Iraq closely monitors the case (of Iran’s nuclear program) since Iran is a Muslim neighbor of Iraq and whatever happens in the country would directly affect neighboring countries, and this causes us to make efforts in this regard,” he said, expressing hope that the Baghdad talks would be a “step forward.” The senior Iraqi cleric also called on the United States and its Western allies to revise their attitude toward the Islamic Republic. The main bone of contention between Tehran and the West is Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Iran says all its nuclear activities are totally peaceful, and, as an International Atomic Energy Agency member and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the legal right to produce nuclear fuel for its research reactors and nuclear power plants.