Tehran:
An influential Iranian MP has welcomed the country's four-month extension of nuclear negotiations with world powers, saying it signalled mutual willingness to reach a comprehensive agreement.
The remarks by Aladin Borujerdi, head of Iran's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, were the first high-level reaction in Tehran after long-running talks in Vienna failed to produce a breakthrough by Sunday's July 20 deadline.
"The message of this extension... is that the negotiating sides have the will to reach a comprehensive agreement," the official IRNA news agency quoted Borujerdi as saying.
Negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Germany, the United States and Germany) now have until November 24 to bridge "significant gaps" and strike a lasting accord.
Such a deal is aimed at making Tehran's nuclear drive incapable of developing an atomic bomb, in exchange for the West lifting painful sanctions.
Borujerdi said Iran "has made the decision to reach an agreement in order to preserve the nuclear rights of our people," a statement that reiterates its pursuit of atomic activities for peaceful purposes.
"But this definitely does not mean that we would change our positions in the next four months," he added.
One of the sticking points at the negotiations is Iran's insistence of developing a uranium enrichment capacity that is far higher than what the West regards as acceptable.
Iran says its demand is aimed at guaranteeing fuel for its sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the future, although it has not laid out a clear timeline for its plans.
The process of enriching uranium can produce fuel for reactors but also the core of a nuclear bomb if purified to higher levels.
Iran says it is not pursuing a bomb, but Western powers and Israel suspect that Tehran's activities mask a military dimension.
"We hope the United States will forgo its excessive demands and act in a way that the outcome (of negotiations) will be a comprehensive agreement," Borujerdi said without elaborating.
The remarks by Aladin Borujerdi, head of Iran's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, were the first high-level reaction in Tehran after long-running talks in Vienna failed to produce a breakthrough by Sunday's July 20 deadline.
"The message of this extension... is that the negotiating sides have the will to reach a comprehensive agreement," the official IRNA news agency quoted Borujerdi as saying.
Negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Germany, the United States and Germany) now have until November 24 to bridge "significant gaps" and strike a lasting accord.
Such a deal is aimed at making Tehran's nuclear drive incapable of developing an atomic bomb, in exchange for the West lifting painful sanctions.
Borujerdi said Iran "has made the decision to reach an agreement in order to preserve the nuclear rights of our people," a statement that reiterates its pursuit of atomic activities for peaceful purposes.
"But this definitely does not mean that we would change our positions in the next four months," he added.
One of the sticking points at the negotiations is Iran's insistence of developing a uranium enrichment capacity that is far higher than what the West regards as acceptable.
Iran says its demand is aimed at guaranteeing fuel for its sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the future, although it has not laid out a clear timeline for its plans.
The process of enriching uranium can produce fuel for reactors but also the core of a nuclear bomb if purified to higher levels.
Iran says it is not pursuing a bomb, but Western powers and Israel suspect that Tehran's activities mask a military dimension.
"We hope the United States will forgo its excessive demands and act in a way that the outcome (of negotiations) will be a comprehensive agreement," Borujerdi said without elaborating.
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