Abbas Araghchi made the remarks during his regular press briefing when asked about the next round of talks between Iran and the six major powers, namely the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France, and Germany, which are known as the P5+1 group.
The latest round of high-level talks between Iran and world powers was held in the Kazakh city of Almaty on April 5 and 6.
And Saeed Jalili, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council who is also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held a bilateral meeting in Istanbul on May 15.
Ashton leads diplomatic efforts to resolve the decade-old nuclear dispute on behalf of the six major powers.
No decision has yet been made about the date and venue of the next meeting.
“If the 5+1 prefers to continue the negotiations after the election, it is their own problem because our principled stances will not change before and after the election.”
The 11th presidential election is scheduled to be held on June 14.
The West suspects Tehran’s nuclear program may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons capability, but Iran insists it is purely for peaceful purposes.
Concerns about Iran’s nuclear program unfounded
During the press conference, Araghchi also dismissed the remarks recently made by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle about Tehran’s nuclear program, saying that any concern about Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities is “unfounded.”
According to Haaretz, Westerwelle met with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday, and said that Iranian nuclear weapons “are not an option for Germany.”
Araghchi said, “The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly announced that Iran is opposed to weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear (weapons). This is the clear stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
EP/PA
MNA
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MNA
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