AFP: Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Sunday that Tehran will not yield to pressure ahead of talks with the UN atomic watchdog and the world powers over its controversial nuclear drive. TEHRAN (AFP)— Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Sunday that Tehran will not yield to pressure ahead of talks with the UN atomic watchdog and the world powers over its controversial nuclear drive.
“The time for pressure strategy has come to an end,” Jalili told former French socialist premier Michel Rocard, who is in Tehran on a private visit, local official news agencies reported.
Jalili “warned the Western officials over their unrealistic and nonsensical comments which have repeatedly been proven incorrect by the International Atomic Energy Agency, urging them to pay attention to some of their unconstructive remarks,” he said.
“Any kind of wrong calculations by the West will lead to no success in the talks. In Baghdad we are awaiting actions to secure Iranian people’s trust,” Jalili said.
Aladin Borujerdi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary foreign policy commission, also met with the French politician and reiterated Tehran’s stance that it does not seek nuclear weapons.
“Iranian nations does not want more rights that what has been stated in the non-proliferation treaty and is seriously against the nuclear bomb.”
Rocard, who arrived in Tehran early Saturday, “is not carrying any message nor has he been vested with any mission” by the French president-elect, a member of his entourage told AFP on Saturday, adding it was a “private visit.”
“The position of Francois Hollande on the Iranian nuclear programme is known,” said the diplomat.
“Iran must comply with its international obligations and abide by the resolutions of the UN Security Council to cease nuclear activities without credible civilian purpose,” he said.
Jalili’s comments comes as Islamic republic prepares for a new round of talks with world powers in Baghdad on May 23 that will focus on the disputed nuclear drive.
Tehran is also set to resume talks on Monday in Vienna with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Western nations suspect that Tehran is seeking a weapons capability masked by its civilian nuclear programme. Iran vehemently denies the charge.
