Iran president warns against "excessive demands" at nuclear talks

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Iran president warns against "excessive demands" at nuclear talks

(Xinhua) 08:13, November 19, 2013

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TEHRAN, Nov. 18 -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned on Monday against what he called "excessive demands" by some powers at nuclear talks, saying that it will be detrimental to the negotiations, Press TV reported.

"At the recent Geneva talks, good progress was made, but everyone must realize that excessive demands could complicate the process towards a win-win agreement," Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

"From our point of view, there should not be a situation in which the will of parties to reach mutually acceptable agreement is affected," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

The Iranian president did not expand on the "excessive demands, " but western media reported on Monday that French President Francois Hollande has put forward some major demands to Iran ahead of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- set to begin on Wednesday.

Iran should take four "essential" steps: "First, put all the Iranian nuclear installations under international supervision right now. Second, suspend enrichment to 20 percent. Third, reduce the existing stockpile of enriched uranium," Hollande said on Sunday in Israel.

"Finally, halt construction of the Arak (heavy water) plant. These are the points which for us are essential to guarantee any agreement," he said according to western media.

On Monday, a senior Iranian lawmaker said the Islamic republic will leave the negotiating table if the U.S. Congress approves additional sanctions against Tehran, according to Press TV.

"The U.S. Congress has recently been seeking to approve a bill to increase sanctions against Iran. It has been decided that the negotiations will be suspended if the bill gets through the U.S. Congress," said Mohammad-Hassan Asafari who is a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Majlis ( parliament).

Besides, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, said ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers must lead to the lifting of sanctions which have been imposed on the country due to its nuclear activities, Tehran Times daily reported on Monday.

"All sanctions, including unilateral, multilateral, and the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, must be lifted, and if it does not happen and the sanctions are not lifted, it is meaningless for us to take confidence-building measures," Takht-Ravanchi, also deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, was quoted as saying.

On Monday, the Russian president told Rouhani in the phone conversation that there is a "real chance" to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Following a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Putin said that he believes there will be an opportunity to find a solution to the nuclear stand-off.

Rouhani also praised the efforts of Russia in the group of six international mediators alongside Britain, China, France, Germany and the United States, said the statement.

Iran and the six world powers held talks earlier this month in a bid to reach a preliminary agreement on its nuclear program. While the talks fell apart, a second round is slated for Wednesday.

Also on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday's talks could be switched to ministerial level.

"Depending on the course of the work, we will be ready to organize a ministerial segment of this event as we did previously, and see whether we have common ground," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said Saturday that his country and the world powers would meet in the coming days for " tough" talks.

Iran and the P5+1 held talks earlier this month in a bid to reach a preliminary agreement on Iran's nuclear program. While the talks fell apart, a second round is slated for Wednesday.

Western powers and Israel accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to build weapons while the Islamic republic insists its right to explore nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.