Iran requires lifting of sanctions for reaching agreement on its ‘nuclear activities’

The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has outlined two conditions necessary in order for his country to reach a final agreement on its nuclear file; namely recognising Iran’s nuclear activities as peaceful, and lifting the imposed economic sanctions on Tehran.

During a press conference held after a meeting with the deputy foreign minister of Uganda, Henry Oryem Okello, Zarif explained that, “a nuclear agreement is accessible in the event of the complete lifting of economic sanctions,” according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

Zarif noted that Tehran “guarantees” its nuclear programme is peaceful, reiterating his country’s undeniable right to nuclear energy under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The UN Security Council’s five permanent member states (the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France), in addition to Germany, failed to reach a final solution in their negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme. It was agreed to extend the negotiations until  next July.