Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and senior negotiator Sayyed Abbas Araqchi expressed doubt about attainment of a final nuclear agreement in the upcoming talks between Iran and the six world powers in New York later this week

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and senior negotiator Sayyed Abbas Araqchi expressed doubt about attainment of a final nuclear agreement in the upcoming talks between Iran and the six world powers in New York later this week, FARS news agency reported.

"I believe that it will be highly unlikely to be able to reach the final conclusion and an agreement in New York, given the large volume of the negotiations needed," Araqchi told reporters in Tehran on Monday on the sidelines of the 53rd annual meeting of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO).

He underlined that there are still serious differences over certain issues between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany), but expressed the hope that progress would be made in the talks given consultations between the two sides during the past month, the bilateral meetings between Iran and the G5+1 members and the upcoming meetings in New York on Wednesday and Thursday.

Araqchi said materialization of his nation's rights and safeguarding achievements of Iran's nuclear scientists are his team's redlines, and said Tehran hopes that its talks with the world powers would both protect Iran's nuclear program and obviate any possible concerns about the country's nuclear activities.

In relevant remarks yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the world powers could resolve their nuclear standoff with Iran and strike a final deal with the country if they really intended to do so.

"If the other side shows real resolve to settle the problem over Iran's nuclear issue, we can obtain results at the earliest," Zarif said in a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Ri Su-yong in Tehran.

He further complained that the West has imposed a set of sanctions against Iran, while the Islamic Republic has never sought to develop military nuclear program and it believes that all countries which possess atomic weapons should be disarmed.

Zarif underscored Tehran's firm stance on pursuing a peaceful nuclear drive, and said, "Yet, no one in Iran accepts to give up the Iranian nation's inalienable right for the sake of the unfair sanctions, while the Islamic Republic of Iran won't allow the western states to display an incorrect image of Iran which is opposed to nuclear weapons."

His remarks came as Iran and the G5+1 are scheduled to resume negotiations over a final deal on Tehran's nuclear program in New York on September 18.

Araqchi told reporters on Sunday that Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton would have a working lunch on Wednesday, adding that the two would preside over the multilateral negotiations on Thursday.

"The Iranian team will leave for New York on Tuesday," said the deputy lead negotiator, adding that the Iranian delegation would have bilateral meetings with the G5+1 members on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

"At these (bilateral) meetings, decisions will be made on how to proceed with the (multilateral) negotiations and the ministerial-level meeting," Araqchi concluded.

On September 1, Zarif and Ashton met in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the process of the ongoing nuclear talks.

After his negotiations with Ashton, the Iranian foreign minister said that he was optimistic that the issues related to the Iranian nuclear technology could be resolved within the time framework of the November 24 deadline.

Iran and the six world powers are currently in talks to work out a lasting accord aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear activities.

Last November, the two sides signed an interim deal in Geneva, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20. In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend negotiations until November 24 after they failed to reach an agreement on a number of key issues.

Iran to Kick Off Construction of 2 More N. Power Plants in Bushehr This Year

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will start building two new nuclear power plants in the Southern province of Bushehr in the current Iranian year (will end March 20), AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi announced on Monday.

"We reached agreements in our (recent) talks with the Rosatom (the Russian contractor) Chief on the construction of two power plants with a minimum capacity of 1,000-megawatt and equipped with water sweetening systems beside Bushehr's first nuclear power plant," Kamalvandi said on Monday.

He noted that his recent visit to Russia was also aimed at finalizing the legal, trade and technical aspects of the same agreements with Rosatom.

"We believe that we can sign a relevant protocol and memos as well as its various side contracts in the next few months remaining from 2014, and start the construction phase during this (Iranian) year," he said.

In March, Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation and the AEOI reached an agreement to construct at least two more nuclear power plants in Bushehr.

According to Kamalvandi, the agreement is part of a 1992 deal between the two countries on further nuclear cooperation.

Under the agreement, the new facilities will be built next to the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant and each will have the capacity to produce at least 1,000 megawatts of electricity, Kamalvandi said, adding that the deal also includes the construction of two desalination units.

Earlier this month, AEOI Chief Ali Akbar Salehi said that Tehran would sign a contract with Russia in the near future to build two new nuclear power plants in Bushehr.

"At present the AEOI deputy chief is negotiating in Moscow and the contract between Iran and Russia for building new power plants will be inked before the meeting between Mr. (Vladimir) Putin (the Russian president) and Sheikh (Hassan) Rouhani (the Iranian president) which will be held within the next one month," Salehi said on the sidelines of a ceremony to inaugurate Bushehr nuclear power plant's desalination unit.

He said that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had also pursued the negotiations in Moscow.

"We consider Russia a highly important neighbor and we hope that based on the words of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei), powerful Russia beside independent Iran can be important allies for each other," Salehi said.