EC chairman: Iran-world powers final deal attainable

Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council (EC) Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani reiterated that Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) can attain a final and comprehensive agreement over the former's nuclear activities. “Should the West want to resolve the issue technically, it would not take a long time because ground is ready for a final agreement,” Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a meeting with visiting Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in Tehran on Monday. He added the negotiations between Iran and the six major world powers over Tehran’s nuclear issue are not complicated in principle, noting that Tehran is hopeful of a bright prospect for the talks. “Iran, given its religious and humanitarian beliefs, has repeatedly stated that it renounces the adverse outcomes of nuclear arms, and does not seek confrontation with world countries in the pursuit of its political objectives,” Rafsanjani pointed out. Earlier this month, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for legal and international affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi confirmed that Iran and the G5+1 plan to hold an expert-level meeting in New York early in May. Araqchi, who is also senior Iranian negotiator in talks with the Sextet, said negotiations will be held from May 5-9 on the sidelines of a session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference. The Iranian official said the talks will take place a few days ahead of the new round of high-level negotiations between Tehran and the six countries, which is scheduled to be held in the Austrian city of Vienna on May 13. Deputy chief negotiators from Iran and the six world powers wrapped up their second day of talks in Vienna on April 9. The talks were headed by Araqchi and EU foreign policy deputy chief Helga Schmidt. The talks started on April 8 by a session presided by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the UN headquarters in Vienna, and continued by a meeting among the deputy chief negotiators of the seven nations. The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement on April 8 reiterated that its team of negotiators would not discuss any topic but the country's nuclear standoff with the West in its talks with the six world powers, including the present round in Vienna. The talks between Tehran and the six world powers are part of efforts to seal a final deal on Iran’s nuclear energy program. Iran and the Group 5+1 representatives had several sessions of talks in Vienna on March 18-19.