No Date, Venue Set For Iran-5+1 Talks: FM

Behshahr, Mazandaran prov, Jan 19, IRNA – Date and venue for talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 have not been decided as yet, but Iran will continue negotiations to make an accord with the world powers on the issue, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Thursday. He made the remarks in an interview with IRNA on the sidlelines of the second national conference on the Caspian Sea legal regime. 'Iran is committed to safeguard its national interests in an ethical approach based on international rules and regulations.' Addressing the second national conference on the Caspian Sea legal regime, he noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran spares no efforts to safeguard national interests. He maintained that Iran's commitment to all conventions was due to its adherence to Islamic values and principles, and that Iran was among few countries in the world which has multitude of neighbors and is trying to use the chance of having 15 neighbors. Salehi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran focused on bolstering convergence with its neighbors in line with rationality and adopting practical approach to achieve the goals. Referring to the pressures exerted on Iran by the hegemonic powers, he expressed confidence that Tehran will soon overcome international sanctions. He said that, however, Iran must pay the price for its independence. In the meantime, while media had declared that Iran and six world powers would resume talks in late January, Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement released on Thursday noted that Moscow would continue to work, including with Iranian partners, to resolve issue of time and venue for talks as soon as possible. The Russian Foreign Ministry said later that there was an understanding among the parties involved that the meeting should take place this month, and that the dates reported by media - January 28-29 - were being discussed. Last meeting and talks between Iran and world powers took place in Moscow in June. Meanwhile, senior UN nuclear inspectors arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for two-day talks with Iranian officials. Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed to meet again in February. Two days of talks between the UN atomic agency and Iran ended in Tehran on Thursday night. The most recent meeting between the agency and Iran was held in Tehran on December 13, 2012. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its righteous right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanction and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path. Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of IAEA's questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities./end