Obama Accepts Iran's Nuclear Rights: US Diplomat

New York, Dec 31, IRNA -- US President Barak Obama have accepted Iran's right for peaceful use of nuclear energy, the former deputy assistant US secretary of state for Iran in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, John W. Limbert, said here on Sunday. He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IRNA in New York on Sunday. 'In a direct negotiation, US officials can explicitly acknowledge to Iranian officials that they accept Iran's right for peaceful use of nuclear energy; Tehran and Washington have several joint interests in the region; direct negotiations can help the removal of wall of mistrust between the two countries.' Limbert called Congress as the one who provokes more sanctions and pressures on Iran and noted that change of US secretary of state could be used as an opportunity for negotiations between Iran and Washington. On December 21, President Barack Obama nominated former US presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. The United States and Iran broke diplomatic relations in April 1980, after Iranian students seized the United States' espionage center at its embassy in Tehran. The two countries have had tense relations ever since, but have shown willingness to attend talks to help resolve regional issues, including security in Iraq. Yet, the two countries have avoided talks on bilateral issues for the last thirty years. In March, White House tried to offer an olive branch to Iran and repair strained ties of nearly three decades. Tehran, meanwhile, said it would only consider the promise after seeing practical changes in the US policies. Tehran has been under Washington sanctions after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled a US-backed monarch in the country. The two countries' relations deteriorated following Iran's progress in the field of civilian nuclear technology. 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. Also during the 2009 post-election events in Iran, Iranian officials found a number of documents as well as a series of confessions extracted from the detainees substantiating US attempts to stir unrest in the country./end