Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

FM welcomes trilateral Iran-5+1-UNSC talks

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Cape Town, March 20, IRNA
South Africa-Talks-Nuclear
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Tuesday welcomed the idea of trilateral Iran-5+1 Group-UNSC talks to end the discords on the country's nuclear activities for peaceful purposes.

The statement was made in a short interview with IRNA after Mottaki's talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

He added that in his negotiations with Mbeki, the latest developments on the country's nuclear issue and the decision making trend at the United Nations Security Council were discussed.

South Africa has become a non-permanent member of the UNSC since the beginning of 2007 and is currently its rotating chairman.

Turning to South Africa's proposal to the 5+1 group for revision of the text of the new resolution on Iran, he said, "During my talks with the South African president, the idea of trilateral talks among Iran, head of UNSC and representative of the 5+1 group was examined." Mottaki welcomed such talks and underlined that restoration of Iran's inalienable right and elimination of concerns over Iran's peaceful nuclear activities are the two sides of a coin.

"Under no condition, will Iran give up its right to access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but is committed to continue talks to come up with a solution," he said.

He referred to the fact that the text proposed by the 5+1 group contains a great number of mistakes and said some UNSC member states, such as Indonesia and South Africa call for dealing with Iran's nuclear issue separately and independent from other problems.

Mottaki said that South Africa proposed a text to the UNSC on Tuesday and called for revision of the content of the draft resolution on Iran which has been prepared by UNSC five permanent members plus Germany.

In general, South Africa considers the proposed text of 5+1 group contradictory to the UNSC basic policies for finding a solution to Iran's nuclear crisis and called for separating the issue from other matters.

According to Mottaki, a number of UNSC non-permanent member states, such as South Africa, have also called on the Security Council to take into consideration the reports of the UN nuclear watchdog chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, confirming that no deviation from peaceful path has been observed in Iran's nuclear programs.

"Besides, they believe that the measures to be taken by the UNSC should mainly be based on continuing talks to come up with a complete and peaceful solution to the issue," he added.

The Iranian foreign minister left South Africa for Indonesia on Tuesday afternoon.

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