Foreign Minister Javad Zarif continues to address Iran’s desire to reach an agreement about its nuclear program, saying on Monday that he hopes to work out a “roadmap” between Iran and the West. Iran will go to the U.N. on Tuesday to discuss its plan for energy independence and restoring international peace. Zarif also said via Facebook that he would like a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday with the P5+1 countries to further discuss the details of the plan. “As I’ve said before, a rather difficult and time consuming process begins tomorrow. Hopefully by Wednesday we can agree on a roadmap to reach a solution. But even if the other party, in good faith, agrees on the details, a new ministerial meeting will be needed,” Zarif wrote.
Ari Larijani, Speaker of the parliament in Iran, repeated notions about the country’s readiness to resolve the issue in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “From Iran’s side, I can say that we are ready,” he said. “If the Americans and other countries say that Iran should not build a nuclear bomb, or should not move towards that, then we can clearly show and prove that. We have no such intention. So it can be resolved in a very short period of time.” Larijani also said though that the West will need to acknowledge Iran’s right to enrich nuclear fuel for solely peaceful purposes. Larijani cited the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which would allow such enrichment processes. However, some still remain suspicious that the enrichment program is only a mask for Iran’s actual development of a nuclear bomb.
