IRAN’S MAJLIS SPEAKER DESCRIBES IRAN AND THE P5+1 TALKS AS “POSITIVE”

       Teheran, 19 Rabi’ul Akhir 1434/1 March 2013 (MINA) – Iran’s Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani described the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany, as “positive,” Iranian Majlis website reported on Thursday.

       “We consider these talks a positive step which could be completed by taking a positive and constructive approach and taking reciprocal steps,” the Iranian Mission to the UN said in a press statement, distributed here following the end of the negotiations,according to Xinhua report monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Friday.

      “Some of the points raised in their response were more realistic compared to what they said in the past, and they tried to bring proximity in some points between the viewpoints of Iran and their own which we believe is positive.”

       It conceded, however, that “we have a long way to reach to the optimum point.” Iran and the P5+1 – US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany – agreed to meet again at the expert level in Turkey, on March 18, and to return to Almaty for further talks on April 5-6.

       Iran stressed on the next steps to be “balanced and simultaneous and that suggestions should not neglect Iran’s rights” in the nuclear field. It said the P5+1 proposed to take “tangible steps for the next six months in order to build confidence and some suggestions were offered in this regard.” The Security Council imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran because it refused to halt uranium enrichment activities.

       The West accuses Iran of pursuing the path toward making a nuclear bomb, a charge Iran rejects, insisting its nuclear activities are for peaceful use.

       The P5+1 is a group of countries which in 2006 joined the diplomatic efforts with Iran in regard to its nuclear program. The term refers to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, namely China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. P5+1 is sometimes referred to as the E3+3 by European countries.

        China, Russia, and the United States joined the three EU3 countries in June 2006 to offer another proposal for comprehensive negotiations with Iran.

        In March 2008, the P5+1 agreed to “repackage” the June 2006 proposal in order to specify some of the benefits that they would offer Iran as part of a long-term agreement on its nuclear program and to better demonstrate the nature of those benefits to the Iranian public.

       This agreement to revise the 2006 proposal coincided with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1803, the third UN sanctions resolution on Iran. (T/P011/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)