 European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton. AP photo |
Talks between world powers and Iran on its controversial nuclear program are expected to resume Jan. 20 in Istanbul, a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told Agence France-Presse.
"It's a tentative date we're looking at," Ashton's spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told AFP. "We have positive feedback from Iran."
Turkey had intensified diplomatic contacts with both Iran and the West to set the date for the nuclear talks.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke on the phone with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salihi late Thursday following talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, early this week.
Davutoğlu said Ashton, the representative of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, or P5+1, could visit Turkey ahead of the nuclear talks.
“We, as Turkey, exerted every effort and will continue to do so for the nuclear negotiations to be concluded in the best way. Turkey is making every effort for regional and global peace,” he told journalists in the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum.
The Istanbul negotiations will be the second round between Iran and six world powers – Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany – after talks resumed in Geneva last month following a 14-month hiatus.
The West suspects that Tehran is pursuing an atomic-weapons program under the guise of civilian nuclear development. Iran denies the charges and insists its activities are purely peaceful. The U.N. Security Council imposed a fourth, tougher round of sanctions on Iran in June after Tehran refused to halt its disputed nuclear program.
"It's a tentative date we're looking at," Ashton's spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told AFP. "We have positive feedback from Iran."
Turkey had intensified diplomatic contacts with both Iran and the West to set the date for the nuclear talks.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke on the phone with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salihi late Thursday following talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, early this week.
Davutoğlu said Ashton, the representative of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, or P5+1, could visit Turkey ahead of the nuclear talks.
“We, as Turkey, exerted every effort and will continue to do so for the nuclear negotiations to be concluded in the best way. Turkey is making every effort for regional and global peace,” he told journalists in the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum.
The Istanbul negotiations will be the second round between Iran and six world powers – Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany – after talks resumed in Geneva last month following a 14-month hiatus.
The West suspects that Tehran is pursuing an atomic-weapons program under the guise of civilian nuclear development. Iran denies the charges and insists its activities are purely peaceful. The U.N. Security Council imposed a fourth, tougher round of sanctions on Iran in June after Tehran refused to halt its disputed nuclear program.
No comments:
Post a Comment