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Russian official: 5+1 moving towards resuming talks with Iran

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Moscow, April 22, IRNA – A Deputy Russian foreign minister said here Wednesday Russia and other members of the G5+1 would in near future move towards resuming nuclear negotiations with Iran.

According to IRNA from Moscow, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister in Disarmament and International Security Affairs, Sergei Rybakov, said he knows noting about the time and the level of this round of talks, adding, “Efforts aimed at clarifying on such matters are being pursed at the time by EU High Representative Javier Solana.”

He said, “There has been certain progresses regarding resuming political talks between Iran and the G5+1 that efforts need to be focused on them from now on.”

Rybakov said, “That is the reason why we are interested in focusing over the agreements we have reached with the American partners and the other members of this group over Iran’s nuclear issue.”

The Russian Deputy FM said, “We expect the upcoming talks with Iran to proceed in two directions.”

He added that the first direction is resuming G5+1’s nuclear talks with Iran, in whose process the “freeze for freeze” formula (suspending uranium enrichment in return for suspension of the (entire?) imposed sanctions against Iran), in which the possibility of exit of the G5+1 and Iran from the emerged stand off is possible.

Rybakov said, “The second direction is resuming the (frozen) Iran-US negotiations, for whose beginning a particular horizon does exist.”

He added, “We have studied the US President Barrack Obama’s recent message to Iran carefully and come up with the conclusion that the possibility of holding talks with Iran about the regional issues, particularly about Afghanistan, is very high.”

Rybakov said, “Connecting the issue of Iran’s nuclear program with regional issues must eventually lead to the emergence of a status in which exit from the existing stand off would be possible, while return to it would be impossible.”

The Russian deputy FM in Disarmament and International Security Affairs elsewhere in his remarks regarding technological and military cooperation between Iran and Russia, said, “The weapons delivered to Iran by Russia are restrictedly conventional.”

He said, “We have delivered no weapons to Iran that is contrary to the resolutions of the UN Security Council, or those that might disturb the regional stability, or security.”

Rybakov said, “We need to pay attention to this point that Iran has never invaded any country.”

The Deputy Russian FM without referring to any certain country’s name and indirectly pointing to the delivery of Israeli weaponry to Georgia, said, “There are meanwhile cases in which the weapons sold by some countries that are worried about the technological and military cooperation between Russia and Iran have been used against the Russian military forces.”

He added, “There is no reason why political profiteering should be pursued resorting to this matter and tension would rise regarding the technological and military cooperation between Russia and Iran.”