EU seeks firm US commitment on final Iran nuclear accord: Khoshroo
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Feb 13, IRNA -- The European Union has begun a new round of talks with the United States, hoping to get Washington`s firm commitment to respect the final outcome of the Iran-EU nuclear accord, a senior Iranian official told IRNA on Saturday on the sidelines of the 41st Munich Conference on Security Policy. "The Europeans have begun renewed efforts to persuade the Americans to respect the final results of a possible Iran-EU nuclear agreement," said Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Gholamali Khoshroo. "The EU seeks a firm commitment from the US that it will respect the nuclear deal," he added. Khoshroo stressed that while the Europeans have worked towards a positive outcome of the talks, the US has attempted "to torpedo" the fragile negotiations. The deputy minister insisted once again that the Europeans have to provide Iran with "security and economic guarantees". "If the expansion of economic cooperation between Europe and Iran is implemented, it is sort of a security guarantee for Europe as well as for Iran," Khoshroo said. "No one wants to destroy prospects for a high bilateral trade volume by engaging in a dangerous action. Closer economic ties can be very effective in this regard," he added. Khoshroo said the ongoing EU-Iran talks were moving forward within a "principled and legal framework". He made clear that the final outcome of the negotiations must nclude "Iran`s legitimate right to use peaceful nuclear energy". An agreement on uranium enrichment as well as providing objective guarantees on Iran`s peaceful nuclear program can still be reached, Khoshroo said Saturday evening at the 41st Munich Conference on Security Policy. Referring to the ongoing political and nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union, Khoshroo pointed out he was still "hopeful" on a positive outcome of the sensitive negotiations. Khoshroo arrived earlier in the day at the three-day Munich Security Conference which is widely regarded as the top annual gathering of movers and shakers on global strategic issues. This year`s meeting featured a number of top politicians among them UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, German President Horst Koehler, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov. Some 250 politicians, military officials, diplomats and scholars are discussing pressing international issues like the Middle East conflict, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a Western diplomat at IAEA said here Friday, Washington intends to increase pressure on Iran in the next Governing Council meeting of the agency on February 28. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters in Vienna that based on the possibility of failure in current Iran-EU big three (Germany, France, Britain) negotiation in Geneva, the United States plans to campaign for the confirmation of its previous stands at the IAEA regarding Iran`s nuclear programs. The US, which accuses Iran constantly of efforts to produce nuclear weapons, has accused the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei of adopting stances on Iran that are too soft and has been pushing for replacing him at the UN nuclear watchdog. The diplomat said, the US is also insisting on the need for establishment of a special committee at the IAEA to work on "trouble-maker countries," so as to attract the world public attention to Iran and North Korea`s nuclear activities once again. OT/2324/1432
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