Sanctions failed to yield intended results: FM

Tehran, Nov 9, IRNA - The anti-Iran bans are not part of a solution, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday. Speaking to Press TV, he noted that sanctions are illegal and have failed to bring about the results intended by the imposing states. “It is important for the West to understand that sanctions have never contributed to the resolution of this issue. Sanctions are not a part of solution. Sanctions are the most important part of the problem. They’re illegal in nature. They must be removed. They have not produced any positive result. The only things that sanctions have produced for the West are about 19,000 centrifuges.” On Sunday and Monday, Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Muscat together with the EU nuclear coordinator Catherine Ashton, who chairs the nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic. The top Iranian diplomat said the removal of sanctions is a main theme of the talks, noting that the size of Iran’s enrichment activities is another key topic at the talks. Iran believes a final deal over its nuclear energy program can be reached if the other side has the political will to do so, Zarif added, noting that his Sunday meeting with Kerry and Ashton will concentrate on bringing the viewpoints of both sides closer together. Following the talks, Ashton will chair a meeting on Tuesday, also in Muscat, of political directors from the P5+1 group - France, Britain, the United States, Russia, China, and Germany. Last November, Iran and the P5+1 clinched an interim nuclear accord, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. However, they agreed to extend their talks until November 24 as they remained divided on a number of key issues. On Saturday, Abbas Araqchi, a senior Iranian nuclear negotiator, said the Islamic Republic will move ahead with its uranium enrichment work to meet the country’s industrial needs. “Iran’s [uranium] enrichment will continue. This issue has been agreed upon by both sides,” he said. He added that the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 are focused on determining the extent of uranium enrichment as well as the time span for Iran to produce industrial-scale enriched uranium./end