Six powers to meet to discuss Iran nuclear talks

TEHRAN,July 13(MNA) – European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will host a meeting of senior officials from six major powers in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward nuclear talks with Iran after the election of a new president, the EU said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Senior officials from the six powers - the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - will discuss “how to move forward in the Iran nuclear file. We are keen to make concrete progress in the talks following the election of the new president,” Ashton’s spokesman, Michael Mann, said. The election last month of centrist cleric Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s new president has raised hopes for a resolution of a long-running dispute with the West over Iran’s nuclear program. Russia voiced concern last week that no progress had been made in organizing new six-power talks with Iran. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful but some Western countries suspect it is aimed at developing the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Western diplomats say the powers will have to wait for a new government to be formed in Iran before they can discuss a date for a new round of talks. Rohani is scheduled to take office on August 3. The last high-level talks between Iran and the six powers were held in the Kazakh city of Almaty in April, but they failed to end the deadlock. “We put a very good offer on the table in Almaty. We are waiting for the Iranians to respond positively,” an EU source said. Iran and world powers had also met in Almaty in February. There has been little public discussion of the proposals put forward by both sides. However, according to the New York Times, in February talks in Almaty, the major powers dropped their demand that Iran shut down its underground uranium-enrichment plant at Fordo, where it enriches uranium to 20 percent, and insisted instead that Iran suspend enrichment work there and agree to unspecified conditions that would make it hard to quickly resume production. They also said that Iran could continue to keep a small amount of uranium enriched to 20 percent for use in a research reactor that produces medical isotopes. If Tehran agreed to these steps, the major powers said they would suspend some sanctions against Iran, including trade in gold and petrochemicals, and would not impose new sanctions through the United Nations Security Council and the European Union. The main oil and financial sanctions would not be loosened. Iran’s main demand is that its right to uranium enrichment, as stipulated in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, be recognized.