Iran to stand firm in upcoming talks with world powers

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Tehran will have a tougher stance in the upcoming talks with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany). "As the sagacious leader of the revolution emphasized yesterday, self-belief and reliance on domestic knowledge and capabilities underlies successfulness of the country's move in future, an important instance of which is seen in the nuclear science," Larijani said, addressing the lawmakers in an open session of the parliament in Tehran on Monday. "This very explicitly means that protection of the peaceful nuclear technology of Iran will be the (only) acceptable framework in future talks," he added. "The quantity of this technology is no issue for bargaining, and when it comes to the quality, production of weapons is the redline according to the leader's Fatwa, and nothing else," he stressed. "The foreign minister and the negotiating team are entitled to continue the negotiations just within this framework and only on the nuclear issue, and nothing more, and the western powers should know that if some overlooking was shown in the preliminary talks, no such a thing would happen in the final negotiations," he added. His remarks came after Ayatollah Khamenei stressed on Sunday that the western states' demand for restricting Iran's missile capability is foolish. "They expect Iran to limit its missile program while they continue posing military threats against Iran, and hence, such an expectation is foolish and silly," Ayatollah Khamenei said during a tour of the exhibition of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force yesterday. The Supreme Leader reiterated that the irrational statements of the western countries in their talks with Iran indicate their complete failure vis-à-vis the Iranian nation. "The IRGC Aerospace Force should precisely advance its works and plans and should not be satisfied with its status quo," Ayatollah Khamenei said. The Supreme Leader underlined that the IRGC Aerospace Force should mass produce its products, and said, "This issue is a duty and all military officials should channel their efforts onto this path and government officials should also view this as among their main duties." His remarks came as the new round of talks between Iran and the world powers will kick off in Vienna on May 14. Deputy chief negotiators from Iran and the sextet wrapped up their last round of talks in Vienna on April 9. The talks were headed by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi and EU foreign policy deputy chief Helga Schmidt. The talks started on April 8 by a session presided by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Zarif at the UN headquarters in Vienna, and continued by a meeting among the deputy chief negotiators of the seven nations. The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement on April 8 reiterated that its team of negotiators would not discuss any topic but the country's nuclear standoff with the West in its talks with the six world powers. The talks between Tehran and the G5+1 are part of efforts to seal a final deal on Iran’s nuclear energy program. Iran and the Group 5+1 representatives had several sessions of talks in Vienna on March 18-19 too. Following the breakthrough interim agreement between Iran and the six powers, the two sides accepted to send their senior negotiating teams to monthly meetings to discuss a final and comprehensive deal until July. If the seven nations fail to agree on a final deal by then, the Geneva interim agreement will be extended for another 6 months. On November 24, Iran and the Group 5+1 sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the latter's nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the sextet of the world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and impose no nuclear-related sanctions on Iran during the six-month period.