Iran rejects Saudi and Qatar at nuclear talks
Iranian official says presence of Gulf states in talks is ‘irrelevant’
Tehran: The Iranian government on Wednesday rejected Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s call to join the nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers terming the suggestion as “irrelevant”.
The Iranian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham rejected the idea that the Arab states should be given a seat at the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany), reported Tehran Times.
She also said that the mechanisms for resolving the nuclear dispute between Iran and the powers were clear.
Qatari foreign minister and Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief said earlier this week that “Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) must be part of the negotiations between major world powers and Iran”, the report said.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, also said the presence of the Arab states in the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group is “out of question”, the daily reported.
Iran and the P5+1 group struck a deal in Geneva on November 24 that Iran agreed to freeze as part of its nuclear programme in exchange for limited ease of sanctions, which have hurt its economy.
Commenting on the recent US president’s remarks against Iran’s nuclear programme, Afkham said that all sanctions against Iran would be lifted at the endgame while Iran’s nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, would be upheld.
