"Commander Terms Acceptance of N. Rights by Powers 'Winning Card' for Iran" (Fars News-Iran)

Just pointing this out:

A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that Iran now has a wining card in his hand after the six world powers acknowledged Iran's nuclear rights during their latest round of negotiations with Iranian diplomats in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday.

"In the recent meeting with (the Group) 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) and as the economic siege (of Iran) is at its peak and despite the efforts made by the arrogant powers to prevent a nuclear Iran, you witnessed that all of them have accepted Iran's right to access nuclear technology," IRGC Lieutenant Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on Monday.

He said this means that the words of the Iranian nation's words have materialized and the West has been forced to retreat.

"That is a winning card for the glorious history of the sacred Islamic Republic system," Salami underscored.

Following the Istanbul talks, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who led the delegations of the world powers in the talks with Iran underlined that the Group 5+1 respects Tehran's right to use peaceful nuclear technology.

"We have agreed that the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) forms a key basis for what must be serious engagement to ensure all the obligations under the treaty are met by Iran while fully respecting Iran's right for the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Ashton said in a news conference following the meeting with Iranian chief negotiator Saeed Jalili.

A day earlier, the Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China reiterated Iran's right to access civilian nuclear technology and urged a diplomatic end to the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and talks between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The RIC (Russia-India-China) ministerial meeting was attended by Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Russian and Chinese counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Yang Jiechi, where the three top diplomats held discussions on key regional and international issues, including the Iran-West nuclear standoff.

The ministers recognized Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy and supported the resolution of the issues through political and diplomatic means and dialogue, including between the IAEA and Iran.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.