Deputy FM Urges 5+1 To Show Good-will In Next Round Of Talks With Iran

Tehran, Oct 30, IRNA – Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Abbas Araqchi here on Tuesday urged members of the G 5+1 to show good-will in the next round of talks with Iran and use their every potentials to settle the remaining issues through peaceful solutions. Speaking exclusively to IRNA, he expressed hope that the next round of talks with western states (permanent members of the UN security council and Germany), would be successful. He rejected reports on talks between Iranian and US officials, saying, “Those claims are only baseless stories usually made by Americans on the threshold of their presidential elections or other major developments.” If Iranians were to talk to Americans, they would never do that anxiously or secretly and instead, would decide for such talks on the basis of their own national interest. “If we make a decision for talks, we will announce it courageously since there is no reason to hide it as nothing remains untold to the Iranians,” stressed the diplomat. Commenting on cancellation of a visit to Tehran by a delegation from the European Parliament, Araqchi said the visit was postponed due to some political pressures exerted on the EP, mostly by the Zionist regime. Referring to the visit as a “wasted good chance,” the diplomat said it could be a great help to reach mutual understanding between the two sides. Just before the visit, they proposed some preconditions which were against previous bilateral agreements and it was clear that those excuses were aimed at canceling the visit, Araqchi added. Asked if the EU delegations could make a visit later to Iran, the diplomat said, “We are not afraid of holding talks with any European or non-European delegations which is to visit Iran and we will welcome such visits.” “We are ready for talks and our logic is clear, so there is no reason to refuse negotiations for baseless excuses,” Araqchi stressed./end