Iran to welcome goodwill in nuclear talks

An Iranian deputy foreign minister said Friday that his country will respond affirmatively to any positive step initiated by the world powers in their nuclear negotiations, Press TV reported. "If the other party does not become rapacious, Tehran will respond to positive behavior with a reciprocal positive measure," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying. He hailed the performance of the Iranian negotiating team, saying that the delegation has not breached the Islamic republic's principles and it has negotiated "very reasonably and from a powerful stand." Earlier on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Maohammad-Javad Zarif said if his country's nuclear rights are not recognized in the nuclear talks, there would be no chance of success for the negotiations, semi-official Mehr news agency reported. Officials from Iran and the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany, will resume negotiations over Iran's disputed nuclear program in Geneva on Nov. 20 after the previous round of talks ended last week without an agreement. Iran insists on uranium enrichment activities on its soil, while the West and Israel push for a halt to them and oxidation or shipment of its high-grade stockpile of enriched uranium abroad.