West to push to resume nuclear talks with Iran by August: report

TEHRAN,June 18(MNA) – The Obama administration and its European allies intend to push to resume negotiations with Tehran on its nuclear program by August to test the positions of the government of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rohani, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, quoting U.S. and European diplomats. Rohani will take up the presidency in August. Washington and Brussels are eager to quickly test whether Rohani’s unexpected victory could pressure Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who determines nuclear policy, into softening his position on the nuclear issue or scaling back Tehran’s broader rift with the West, the officials said. Iran is in talks with the six major world powers, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany, which are known as the P5+1 group, to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, which Iran says is entirely peaceful but the West suspects may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons.