BERLIN, Feb. 4 (PNA/ITAR-TASS) — The final agreement between Iran and the West on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program should be reached by summer, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a visit to the German capital.
“We can and should do that by July,” Zarif said while speaking at an event organized by the German Council on Foreign Relations. “I even think we may achieve that earlier.”
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity.
However, Western powers led by the US claim Iran’s eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.
The minister assured Iran would use its nuclear program solely for civilian purposes, noting possession of nuclear weapons is not Tehran’s strategic aim.
“Atomic weapons will not raise the level of our security,” Zarif said.
Earlier he told a German television channel “no power is entitled to ban Iran from using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.”
He noted the course of talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program should “to a greater degree be defined by international norms and agreements” corresponding to international law.
The six international negotiators on Iran’s program – five permanent members of UN Security Council (Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States) plus Germany – agreed at a meeting in Geneva on Nov. 24, 2013 not to introduce new sanctions against Iran on the part of UN, EU and the US.
They also agreed to lift certain restrictions for Iran in some fields.
The agreement entered into force Jan. 20 this year.
Iran agreed to stop enrichment of uranium to higher than five percent.
The next round of talks is expected to be held in Geneva on Feb. 18. (PNA/ITAR-TASS)