• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Asefi: Iran-EU short-term talks aim to reach final decision

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Nov 15, IRNA -- Spokesman for Iranian Foreign Ministry 
Hamid Reza Asefi said that according to the statement issued on the 
agreement reached between Iran and the EU trio, the negotiations will 
be short-term and mainly aim to reach a final decision. 
Speaking to reporters in his weekly briefings and in response to 
a question whether the Europeans will undertake to comply with their 
commitments, he said that given that the upcoming meeting aims to 
examine the progress achieved on Iran`s nuclear issue, this will be 
clarified in time. 
On the future visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iran 
and the agenda of the relevant meetings, he said that no specific 
schedule has yet been drawn up for the visit. 
"There are many common grounds for cooperation between Iran and 
Russia including economic and political issues, the Caspian Sea, 
campaign against terrorism and other international developments," he 
added. 
Concerning the presence of the UN nuclear watchdog inspectors in 
Iran, he said that they arrived in Iran before the negotiations on 
Iran`s nuclear dossier were finalized to conduct inspections within 
the framework of their scheduled programs. 
"The inspectors may proceed to prepare the grounds for inspecting 
the enrichment process themselves. However, other inspectors may be 
dispatched to Iran for such inspection, which will not make much 
difference to us," he added. 
About the impact of the settlement of Iran`s nuclear dossier on 
improvement of Tehran-Washington relations, he replied, "We should 
wait and see whether the US is sufficiently realistic to see things as
they are, rather than the way they wish them to be. 
"If the US realism is materialized, they will certainly lose a 
major pretext and they will have to revise their approach towards 
the issue. Otherwise, we will witness the continuity of US policies." 
Asefi noted that whether the US was really concerned about Iran`s 
nuclear activities or it just used it as a threat is associated with 
its approach, which is going to be clarified in the coming days. 
Asked about the extent of Majlis awareness of details of the 
Iran-EU nuclear agreement, he said that to the best of his knowledge, 
the issue was discussed in several meetings between Majlis Foreign 
Policy and National Security Commission and the Secretary of the SNSC 
Hassan Rowhani. 
In response to a reporter who referred to settlement of Iran`s 
nuclear dossier as a success for Iran`s diplomacy and the reason for 
Iran`s rejection of direct talks with the US, Asefi said that 
negotiations should have a clear objective. 
"We are not yet confident whether the US intends to pressurize 
Iran and launch propaganda or it really aims to change its approach 
and revise its policies," he added. 
Turning to the expected visit of the foreign ministers of the 
three EU members to Iran in the near future, he said that it is not 
on the agenda. 
2326/1412