Iran, 5+1 to resume talks in late August: report

TEHRAN,Aug.16(MNA) – Iran and the six major powers will hold a new round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear program in late August, RIA Novosti quoted. The latest round of high-level talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) was held in Moscow on June 18 and 19. After the Moscow talks, both sides agreed to hold expert talks. And the most recent round of expert talks was held in Istanbul on July 24, in which negotiators from Iran and the European Union tried to find common ground for another round of high-level talks between Iran and the 5+1 group. On August 2, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held a telephone conversation with Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili about nuclear talks between the Islamic Republic and the world powers. It was the first time that Ashton, who represents the 5+1 group in nuclear negotiations with Tehran, had spoken with Jalili, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, since the Moscow talks.