Tehran, July 2 (DPA) Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani will meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana July 5, an Iranian foreign ministry official said Sunday.
'(Larijani and Solana) are in daily contact,' said foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi here. 'The last contact was just (Saturday), and they will meet Wednesday probably in an European city.'
Larijani had last week said he would meet Solana in Spain.
The spokesman reiterated that there was no deadline for the reply to the Western nuclear proposal but Tehran would be ready to reply in the Persian month of Mordad, which starts July 23.
'I am sure that the West too does not want us to sacrifice thoroughness for the sake of speed - we are not killing time, but studying the issue very carefully and the West should appreciate this,' Assefi said, referring to Western demands to speed up the date of reply.
The spokesman said the Larijani-Solana meet would be aimed at clarifying the stance of both sides and removing ambiguities and set the framework for further negotiations.
'Our aim is to remove Western concerns (that Iran's nuclear programme is not going towards a military direction), but this does not mean that we would sacrifice our national interests in return,' Assefi said.
'If logic prevails in the negotiations, then I am optimistic that the issue could be diplomatically settled,' the spokesman added.
Assefi reiterated that Iran's final aim is to realise its right to its own nuclear fuel cycle and would not fear sanctions in reaching this aim.
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