Kazakhstan stresses need for diplomatic settlement to Iran's nuke program

    Kazakhstan has urged a peaceful settlement to the nuclear standoff between Tehran and Group 5+1 (Russia, China, France, the Britain, and the US Plus Germany).
    The remarks were made by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov in Moscow.
    Yesterday, the world powers asked for the postponement of talks with Iran until February.
    In a telephone conversation with Undersecretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Baqeri on Friday, Deputy of EU Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmid said that they are not ready to negotiate with Iran this month.
    Schmid is the number two of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the G5+1 in talks with Iran.
    Iran's Deputy Chief Negotiator for his part, said Iran is ready to attend the talks and asked the group to remain committed to the date agreed upon for talks in January.
    The last round of talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany was held in Moscow in June.
    Also this month, Iran's top negotiator in talks with the world powers Saeed Jalili had said Tehran and the G 5+1 would resume talks later this month, although the place and date for the negotiations have not been finalized.
    Jalili told reporters in New Delhi that Tehran has agreed to a new round of talks this month.
    "We have accepted that these talks should be held in January ... but till now the details have not been finalized," he said.
    Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
    Tehran stresses the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
    Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.
    Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.
    Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities, Fars News wrote.