Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran and the P5+1 group may continue talks on the 20-percent uranium enrichment in the future meetings, ISNA quoted Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi as saying.

Referring to recent comments of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Iran will study halting enrichment of 20-percent uranium, Araqchi said the issue of 20-percent enrichment is not a new topic between the two sides, so, they may hold similar talks in the future.

On June 18, Lavrov said that Iran has confirmed it is prepared to halt its enrichment of 20-percent uranium. He urged Western nations to reciprocate by lifting sanctions.

"For the first time in many years, there are encouraging signs in the process of settlement of the situation with the Iranian nuclear program. It would be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity," Lavrov explained.

The most recent round of high-level talks between Iran and the P5+1 group, which failed to produce a breakthrough, was held in Almaty on April 5 and 6.

They had held similar negotiations in the same city on February 26 and 27.

Besides, the former spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Hamid Reza Assefi lambasted the western states for their cruel sanctions against the country, and said the West cannot continue its dual-track policy of talks and sanctions forever.

"The westerners should obviously know that they cannot continue this path of talks for talks accompanied by imposition of new sanctions (against Iran) forever," Assefi told Fars news agency.

Assefi, career diplomat who has served as Iran's ambassador to Eastern Germany (before the reunification), France and the UAE in the past 30 years, welcomed negotiations as the best option for resolving the two sides' differences and clarifying ambiguities, but meantime said, "When they negotiate and at the same time impose sanctions, it is very cruel."

"Many of these sanctions are imposed outside the framework of the UN and even those which are within the framework of the UN are very cruel as well," he underlined.

The West suspects Tehran's nuclear program may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons capability, but Iran insists it is purely for peaceful purposes.

Iran reiterates that its main demand is that its right to uranium enrichment, as stipulated in the NPT, be recognized.