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Araghchi: Iran's nuclear achievements led to agreement

Iranian negotiator Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that Iran had decided to achieve an "irreversible" amount of progress in nuclear program before entering new round of talks.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano (R) welcomes Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi in his offfice at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna February 24, 2015. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader (AUSTRIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR4QWK7
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Iranian nuclear negotiator Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi spoke to the Iranian journal Diplomat Monthly about the nuclear negotiations and the different circumstances facing the last three administrations in Iran. The news website Entekhab selected some key passages from the interview that shed light on how Iran changed its tactics in its nuclear program and the negotiations during the last three Iranian administrations.

Discussing the 2003 Saadabad agreement and later the 2004 Paris agreement between Iran and the so-called EU3 (Britain, France and Germany), Araghchi said, “When the nuclear controversy began, Iran decided to enter negotiations with the three European countries. The situation at that time was that apparently America was after another war in the region and the Europeans came forward and in their own beliefs to stop a new war.” Mohammad Khatami was president at the time, and Hassan Rouhani was one of the key Iranian figures to negotiate the deal.

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