'West acts like businessmen over nuclear talks'

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani Tuesday said some Western countries in the P5+1 group of world powers have mistaken the negotiating table for a place to bargain over Tehran's nuclear energy programme.

"Political negotiations over the (Iranian) nuclear issue can remove misunderstandings, but certain parties act like businessmen in the nuclear talks and seek bargaining. They even sometimes make absurd remarks," Press TV quoted Larijani as saying.

He made the comments at a gathering of foreign guests attending a ceremony marking the 36th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Larijani said the West claimed to have forced Iran to stop its nuclear development, but they should know that such rhetoric cannot solve their domestic problems. He also stressed that Iran would not abandon its peaceful nuclear programme.

The West was mistaken to assume that they could use anti-Iran rhetoric to pile up pressure on the country in future nuclear negotiations, Larijani pointed out.

The senior Iranian official said that negotiations should provide a chance for logical solutions to issues.

Iran and the P5+1 group of of world powers -- Russia, China, France, Britain, the US plus Germany -- are seeking to reach a high-level political agreement by April 1 and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1.

Since an interim deal was sealed in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013, the negotiating sides have missed two self-imposed deadlines to ink a final comprehensive agreement over Tehran's nuclear energy program.