New Delhi: Iran`s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has said he is hopeful of Tehran resuming talks with the P5+1 comprising five members of the UN Security Council and Germany, and underlined that Iran was not pursuing an atomic weapons programme but only using its right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
"The proposals have been given. They (P5+1) have expressed their readiness for the restart of the talks," Jalili, the head of Iran`s Supreme National Security Council, told a group of journalists and strategic experts at the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank, here on Wednesday.
"The time and venue of the talks have not been decided. We are hopeful of the restart of the talks. We hope the talks will be held soon," he said.
Jalili underlined that Iran has never "deviated from the peaceful programme of nuclear energy".
"We always stress on our rights and we respect our duties. We don`t accept anything less nor ask for anything more than that," he said.
In the last few weeks, Tehran has indicated its willingness to end the country`s deadlock with the West over its atomic programme, which is suspected of producing nuclear weapons.
The last round of talks between the P5 (the US, China, Britain, France, Russia) and Germany in June ended in a stalemate as Iran rejected their proposal to suspend part of its programme and asked for a more substantial sanctions relief.
"We view relations with India favourably," Jalili said.
He accused the US of pursuing double standards on terrorism and blamed the Western powers for the mess in Afghanistan.
IANS
