"Our country excluded the nuclear issue from the framework of talks because there had remained no technical or legal aspect of the (nuclear) issue unsolved”, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Undersecretary for Foreign Policy Affairs Ali Baqeri told state television on Monday.
The package of proposals presented by Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to the ambassadors of the P5+1 group – Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, and the US – was hailed as a potential opportunity to end the crisis surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. However, Ali Baqeri has now asserted that the nuclear issue was not part of the package of proposals.
Iran has long been accused of operating a clandestine nuclear weapons program.