ALMATY: Two-day talks between Iran and world power concluded on Wednesday with an agreement that the two sides would meet at expert level to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program in Istanbul on March 17-18 and hold further high-level negotiations in Kazakhsatn on April 5-6.
During the talks held in the Kazakh city of Almaty, the six powers that include France, Germany, the United States, China Russia and Britain, offered to ease sanctions on Iran if it stops nuclear activity the West fears could be used to build bombs. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Hopes of a significant easing of the deadlock in the decade-old dispute were dented when Russian media cited a source close to the talks as saying there had been no clear progress.
“So far there is no particular rapprochement. There is an impression that the atmosphere is not very good,” Interfax news agency quoted the source as saying shortly before the talks ended.
The meeting in Almaty that ended on Wednesday was the first between the world powers and Iran in eight months. Western officials described the first day of the talks as “useful”. Iranian state television described the atmosphere in the discussions as “very serious”.
The outcome will be closely watched in Israel, which has strongly hinted that it could attack Iran’s nuclear sites if diplomacy and sanctions fail to stop Tehran’s uranium enrichment program.
Iran Press Tv adds
Kazakhstan: Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili says the next round of talks between Tehran and the group of six major world powers will be held in Kazakhstan in April.
In a press conference following talks with the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany) on Wednesday, Jalili said the next round of negotiations would be held on April 5-6 in Almaty.
Jalili added that expert-level talks between the two sides would be held in the Turkish city of Istanbul on March 18.
Iran and the P5+1 wrapped up their two-day negotiations earlier in the day in southeastern Kazakh city of Almaty.
“The P5+1’s response to the proposals that Iran presented in Moscow was more realistic comparing to what was said in the past,” Jalili added.
Jalili said in their response to Tehran’s proposals, the P5+1 had tried to get closer to Iran’s viewpoints in some issues which was a “positive” development.
When asked whether Iran would close down Fordo enrichment facility, Jalili said there was no reason to shut down the site as it was a legal facility and under the inspection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Iranian official added the P5+1 had not requested the closure of Fordo site during the two-day negotiations.
Iran and the P5+1 group have held several rounds of talks with the main focus on Iran’s nuclear energy program. The last round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group was held in Moscow in June 2012.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran refutes the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
