Georgia hails continuation of talks over Iran's nuclear program

/AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the progress in talks between E3+3 states and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program in recent months.

The Ministry issued a statement on December 15, saying: "Georgia believes that it will be an important step towards a lasting peace and overall stability in the region and world.”

The E3+3 is a group of countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as China, Russia and the U.S., who are working together on a comprehensive solution for Iran's nuclear program.

There have been major doubts and questions about the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program since 2002. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN Security Council and the E3+3 countries have repeatedly called on Iran to be transparent and cooperative in regard to the nuclear issue.

The E3+3 and Iran agreed on a first step towards resolving the nuclear dispute, at a meeting in Geneva on November 24, 2013, following 10 years of negotiations. Under the renewable Joint Action Plan agreed in Geneva, which was initially valid for six months, development of Iran’s nuclear program was stopped and some aspects of it were reversed. In return, the EU and U.S. suspended sanctions in certain specific areas.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry welcomed the agreement to extend the Joint Action Plan, as well as the parties’ readiness to work for reaching a political framework and finalization of remaining technical details.

"The Georgian Foreign Ministry supports the negotiation process and hopes that the parties will be able to achieve a framework agreement to verifiably ensure civilian nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” the Ministry said.