Confidence building prerequisite for nuclear talks: political analyst

July 3, 2010 - 0:0

TEHRAN - Iran should not negotiate with Russia and China unless they make efforts to build trust, says political analyst Sadollah Zarei.

China and Russia, two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, voted in favor of the sanctions Resolution against Iran on June 9.
At a press conference in Tehran on Monday, Ahmadinejad said nuclear talks with the 5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) cannot begin until the major powers revise their stance toward Israel’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, agree to include other countries in the nuclear talks, and agree to changes to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Ahmadinejad also said Iran will delay negotiations with the group until late August to punish the major powers that introduced a new sanctions resolution against Iran immediately after Iran signed a nuclear fuel swap deal with Turkey and Brazil.
Zarei said the fact that Iran has postponed talks over its nuclear program shows that Tehran has the upper hand.
Zarei went on to say that the resolution stands in marked contrasts to the NPT.
The analyst said that Iran should declare with candor that it has lost confidence in the countries which have voted for the sanctions resolution, adding that if the group of 5+1 seeks to resume negotiations, they should first make efforts to rebuild the lost confidence