Turkey confirms hosting Iran, P5+1 talks

Sun Nov 7, 2010

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the country will host the upcoming multifaceted talks between Iran and the world's major powers.

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced that Iran and the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US -- have reached a consensus with Tehran "regarding its views and proposed package," and named Turkey as the venue for the upcoming talks.

Mottaki expressed hope that an agreement regarding the time and the agenda of the multifaceted talks would be reached "as soon as possible" and with a mutual positive attitude.

"Turkey has made lots of efforts since the start of the process for a diplomatic solution to be found. We are ready to do whatever is in our power," Anatolia News Agency quoted a Turkish diplomat as saying on Sunday.

Dialogue between Iran and the P5+1 has been stalled since October 1, 2009, when the two sides met in Geneva.

On October 14, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton, who represents P5+1, proposed holding three-day talks over Iran's nuclear program in mid-November in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Iran welcomed the West's decision to return to negotiating table but emphasized that the time and venue of the proposed talks must be convenient for all sides.

Iran has also announced that it will negotiate the issue of a nuclear fuel swap only with the Vienna group -- France, Russia, the US, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- within the framework of the Tehran declaration, and its multifaceted talks with the P5+1 will not include the nuclear issue.

Iran signed a declaration with Turkey and Brazil on May 17 based on which Tehran agreed to exchange 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium on Turkish soil with nuclear fuel.

The US and its allies, however, snubbed the declaration and used their influence on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to press for fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic over claims that Tehran might pursue a military nuclear program.

Iranian officials refute US allegations about the country's nuclear program, reiterating that Tehran has always been interested in the peaceful applications of nuclear technology.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/150020.html.