Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addresses during a joint session of politicians and cabinet members at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday December 1 2021. AP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addresses during a joint session of politicians and cabinet members at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday December 1 2021. AP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addresses during a joint session of politicians and cabinet members at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday December 1 2021. AP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addresses during a joint session of politicians and cabinet members at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday December 1 2021. AP

Iran is serious in nuclear talks with world powers, says President Raisi


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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday that Tehran was serious in its nuclear talks with world powers in Vienna, as its top negotiator said important disagreements remained, state media reported.

Indirect US-Iranian talks to revive a 2015 Iran nuclear deal are taking place in the Austrian capital.

Diplomats from France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China shuttle between the two sides because Tehran refuses direct contact with Washington.

A European source, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested on Friday that Iran had agreed to continue talks from where they left off in June. Iranian officials denied this.

Under the original deal that then-US President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, Iran limited its nuclear programme in return for relief from US, European Union and UN sanctions.

"The fact that we presented the text of Iran's proposal to the negotiating parties shows that we are serious in the talks, and if the other side is also serious about the removal of (US) sanctions, we will achieve a good agreement," state news agency IRNA quoted Mr Raisi as saying.

But Iran's top negotiator said on Saturday that several issues remained unresolved in the Vienna talks.

"Several points of difference have remained which require decision-making at the high-level and these are still on the table unresolved," Ali Bagheri Kani told state-run Press TV.

A year after Trump's reimposition of sanctions on Iran, Tehran began to gradually violate nuclear limits of the agreement. Iran wants all sanctions to be lifted.

Bagheri Kani told Reuters on Friday that Tehran was standing firm on the position it laid out last week.

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Who is Enric Sala?

Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.

What is biodiversity?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.

Updated: December 11, 2021, 10:08 PM