Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov (R) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during their meeting in Astana on April 13, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
Zarif made the comment during a visit to ex-Soviet Kazakhstan as he praised the Central Asian nation for giving up its nuclear weapons after the collapse of the USSR.
“Kazakhstan is an important player in this field, as a country firmly committed to a non-proliferation regime and which voluntarily refused nuclear weapons,” Zarif said in a meeting with the head of Kazahstan’s Senate.
“We all want a nuclear-free world.”
Read: A tentative nuclear deal
Tehran and international powers including Russia made a major breakthrough on April 2 in a 12-year standoff by agreeing an outline deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear drive.
Tehran denies Western claims that it is seeking to make a nuclear bomb.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) greets Atomic Energy Organization of Iran head Ali Akbar Salehi at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel on March 31, 2015 in Lausanne. PHOTO: AFP
Global powers must resolve a series of difficult technical issues by a June 30 deadline in order to seal a final nuclear deal, including the steps for lifting global sanctions imposed on Iran.
Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who will have the final say on any deal, has plunged the accord into doubt suggesting that “nothing is binding” while President Hassan Rowhani demanded that sanctions be immediately lifted when any deal is signed.
A file photo of a nuclear power plant in Iran. PHOTO: AFP
During his visit to Kazakhstan, Zarif thanked President Nursultan Nazarbayev for supporting international talks over a framework deal after two rounds of nuclear talks were held in the country in 2013.
Read: Iran nuclear talks final round
Nazarbayev, whose country shares a recently-completed 930-kilometre rail link with Iran and mutual neighbor Turkmenistan, congratulated Zarif on the framework deal while acknowledging that “not all issues have been solved.”
Nazarbayev, who has sought to maintain good ties with the major regional powers of Iran, Russia and China, is expected to travel to Tehran to meet Rowhani later this year.
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