Rouhani, Obama hold telephone conversation

Rouhani, Obama hold telephone conversation
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/09/27/326408/rouhani-obama-speak-on-phone/
Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:53PM GMT

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his American counterpart Barack Obama have held a telephone conversation as the Iranian president was wrapping up his visit to New York for the 68th annual session of the UN General Assembly.

Rouhani received the call from Obama on Friday as he was in a car heading to the John F. Kennedy International Airport to fly back to Tehran, IRNA reported.

The two heads of state stressed Tehran and Washington’s political will to swiftly resolve the West’s dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program, and exchanged viewpoints on various topics, including cooperation on different regional issues.

During the telephone conversation, Rouhani and Obama also assigned Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry to quickly set the stage for cooperation between the two counties.

The phone conversation is the first direct communication between the Iranian and US presidents since Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979.

It came following a Thursday meeting between Iran and the six major world powers in New York over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

Kerry called the talks as “constructive," saying, "We've agreed to try to continue a process that would try to make concrete and find a way to answer the questions that people have about Iran's nuclear program."

Zarif also praised the talks as "very good and substantive" and said the result would have to include "a total lifting" of all sanctions against Iran.

“We hope to be able to make progress to solve this issue in a timely fashion [and] to make sure [there is] no concern that Iran's program is anything but peaceful," the Iranian foreign minister added.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that the Iranian nuclear program has been diverted toward military objectives.

MP/AB/MHB