Iranian officials skeptical about nuclear talks

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Tehran - Iranian officials raised doubts about talks to end the dispute over the country's nuclear program as international negotiators were waiting for Tehran to confirm the date proposed for the next round, media reports said Monday.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has proposed talks between Iran and the 5+1 group - the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - to resume November 15-17 in Vienna.

"The 5+1 group should clarify whether they really want the problem to be settled or just waste time again," Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy commission, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying.

Iran welcomed the initiative, but chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the agenda would need to be clarified before fixing the date and venue.

While the West insists that talks should be focused on Iran suspending its uranium enrichment, Tehran wants to discuss global issues such as disarmament, the Israeli nuclear arsenal, the Middle East and the global financial crisis. "The talks should not be allowed to be only focused on nuclear issues but go beyond that," Boroujerdi said.

Other parliamentarians had called on the government not to enter any nuclear negotiations in which the suspension of uranium enrichment is on the agenda.

A high-ranking member of Iran's judiciary also ruled out talks aimed at Iran mothballing its nuclear ambitions, the ISNA news agency said.

"If the basis of the talks would solely be depriving Iran from its nuclear rights, then such a meeting would once again be futile and the participants would then just drink a cup of coffee together and that would be it," said Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the judiciary's international deputy.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350236,officials-sceptical-nuclear-talks.html.