Swedish foreign minister says Iran-5+1 talks could start soon

TEHRAN, Feb.28 (MNA) – Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt described as “satisfactory” Iran’s offer to engage in negotiations with the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany), saying the talks could start soon. “We had a letter from the Iranians, which was basically satisfactory,” Bildt told reporters in Brussels on Monday before a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, Reuters reported. “Now it’s a question of the timing of those particular talks ... I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s going to take too long,” the Swedish foreign minister stated. On February 15, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili sent a reply to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s letter dated October 2011. Jalili’s letter to Ashton, who represents the major powers in nuclear negotiations with Tehran, contains suggestions about the date, venue, and agenda of a new round of talks about Iran’s nuclear program.