Zarif raised the issue while speaking to reporters in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday, and added that Tehran is pursuing the negotiations with seriousness and without any rush.
“Our base (of work) is protecting the Iranian people’s rights and the country’s dignity and pride, and removal of brutal obstacles in the way of the country’s progress,” Zarif stated.
He also called on the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) to enter the nuclear talks “with seriousness and realism.”
The Iranian minister made the comments at the end of a two-day meeting with EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, which was held in Istanbul on Monday and Tuesday.
During their closed-door talks in Istanbul, the two officials reviewed the progress of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six countries.
“It has been decided that the consultations will be continued at two technical and political levels, if necessary, until the next round of talks between Iran and the Group 5+1,” Abbas Araqchi, a senior Iranian negotiator, said on Tuesday about the Istanbul talks.
Meantime, the EU foreign policy chief’s spokesman, Michael Mann, said on Tuesday that Ashton held “very long and useful discussions with Foreign Minister Zarif in order to inform the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.”
“They explored different possibilities as part of an ongoing process,” he said, adding that the next formal round of talks between the Group 5+1 and Iran will be held from June 16 to 20 in the Austrian capital of Vienna.