‘Progress at Iran-5+1 talks depends on U.S. goodwill’

TEHRAN,Feb.11(MNA) – Progress at talks between Iran and the 5+1 group on the issues raised over Tehran’s nuclear activities will depend on the United States showing “genuine honesty and goodwill”, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Russia said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Iran as well as the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany will meet in Kazakhstan on February 26 to reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran, however, rejects the claims, saying its nuclear activities are meant for peaceful purposes and that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has rights to enrich uranium to produce fuel. “If they (the United States) demonstrate genuine goodwill and honesty, we’ll have the best possible talks,” Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi, told a news conference in Moscow. A senior Russian diplomat said he hoped the negotiations would be productive because time was running out. “In spite of everything I hope the next round of talks leads, if not to a breakthrough, then to a serious change… a lot of time has been wasted,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency RIA Novosti.