Negotiator: Iran to Pursue Win-Win Approach in Geneva
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran will try to find a solution in Geneva talks with world powers that would win the trust of both sides, a senior Iranian negotiator said, and called on West to show honesty for achieving results.
“These negotiations have two phases. In the first phase we need to reach agreement over the objectives and the future perspective; we wish to say that we would not be taking steps in the darkness. The objective must be playing a win-win game and to make sure that both sides would emerge as winners,” Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs and nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said in an TV interview on Sunday evening.
Araqchi added that if the other side intended to emerge at the only winner then we too would not be going to give any concessions. “The objectives must be defined and the two sides must be regarded as equals. It is possible to emerge winners of the negotiations without having to give concessions.”
“They claim their only objective is to make sure that the Iranian nuclear program would not deviate towards military objectives; that the Iranian nuclear program is not aimed at making weapons; then we can practically ensure them that their objective would be achieved.”
“We too," he added, "would be winners when we would have a peaceful nuclear program and our right for enrichment, too, would be recognized.”
The deputy foreing minister stated that the negotiations and agreements can take place in a matter of six months, and in the next phase "we should be able to take the final step maximum by the end of a year, when the nuclear file should be closed.”
“If they have the will, the negotiations will bear results sooner than expected and our program is such that they would not have any pretexts for rejecting it, and in fact the Iranian proposal is a test for the sincerity of the other side,” Araqchi underscored.
Iran and the G5+1 - the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany- are to hold fresh nuclear talks on October 15-16.
European Union foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton will chair the Group 5+1 during talks with Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is to lead Iran's nuclear team at a new round of negotiations. He will attend only the opening session on Tuesday and the rest of the talks will be held between deputies if the six world powers are not represented at the level of foreign ministers.
The Iranian team includes Deputy Foreign Minister for Euro-American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi, Director General for International Political Affairs Hamid Baeedinejad, Legal Advisor to Foreign Minister Davoud Mohammadnia and Mohammad Amiri from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
The Iranian foreign minister and his counterparts from the G5+1, for the first time, met and conferred on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly in New York in September.
Zarif also held a meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry for the first time, a meeting which has been unprecedented since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
