Any revision to Lausanne framework to lead to failure

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in an interview with Rossiya-24 television on Friday.

Noting that the solution to reach a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program was already agreed upon in the Swiss city of Lausanne, Zarif stressed that all parties must realize that an agreement is only possible within the framework of the solutions reached in Lausanne on April 2 and that any revision to that understanding would lead to failure.

Zarif further stressed that representatives of the 5+1 group of countries should show political will to finalize a deal on the nuclear program, saying “the biggest problem we have is the need to make a political decision.”

He also asserted that Iran would not accept any new sanctions under any pretext that bore no relation to the nuclear program.

Elsewhere, the Iranian senior diplomat said in his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference on Thursday, the two sides had agreed to expand cooperation in various fields such as energy and banking.

He also maintained that Tehran and Moscow have not negotiated Iran’s possible participation in the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, though Iran is interested in broadening its energy cooperation with Russia.

Earlier in the week, the director of the National Iranian Gas Company’s Liaison Office said that Iran might use the Turkish Stream gas pipeline to deliver gas to Europe if that route is the most ideal.

In December 2014, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced the construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline, which will run across the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey. The planned annual capacity of the pipeline is 63 billion cubic meters of gas, according to Gazprom. The pipeline is expected to become operational in December 2016.

Iran and the 5+1 group of countries are currently negotiating Tehran’s nuclear program in the Austrian capital Vienna. The talks was resumed on Thursday at deputy level, but with deputy FMs leaving the talks on Saturday, the talks will continue at the expert level.