Salehi Bids Farewell, Acknowledges High Capacity Of His Successor

Tehran, Aug 12, IRNA – Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Sunday arranged a ceremony to bid farewell and said that his successor Mohammad Javad Zarif has high capacity and diplomatic skills to fulfill the task in line with manade of President Hassan Rohani to normalize relations with the western governments. Salehi told his last press conference as foreign minister that when he served as Iranian ambassador to Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Zarif, the then representative of Hassan Rohani (former secretary of supreme national security council) was involved in negotiations ith three European governments over Iranian nuclear program he worked with Zarif closely. Underlining that Zarif is trustworthy for President Rohani and it can be a point of strength for Zarif, Salehi wished success for him in his new post. Asked about rumors about the merger of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization and Energy Ministry, Salehi said, I have heard about it but I have not been notified officially. Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi said that Iran and Russia will sign a deal about building new nuclear power plants in Iran. Salehi, the former head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said that the organization is tasked with generating electricity, adding that uranium enrichment aims to produce fuel for nuclear power plants. The national organization is operating to produce radioisotopes and provide medicine for cancer patients as well, he said. On his next job, Salehi said that he will certainly go back to Sharif University of Technology to proceed with his career as professor of the University./end