Stalled Iran talks must be kick-started, Russia says

TEHRAN,Jan.13(MNA) - Russia has voiced concern at the delay of an agreement between world powers and Iran to start new nuclear talks, the Interfax news agency reported. The latest round of high-level talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany) was held in Moscow on June 18 and 19. Western powers want Iran to halt higher-grade enrichment of uranium. But Iran says it needs 20 percent enriched uranium to run the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday there was no final agreement on when or where a meeting would take place, the Interfax report said, according to Reuters. "This alarms us, because the pause has dragged on," the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. "As a nation and a member of the 'group of six', we are working actively to find a solution." Ryabkov, the Russian negotiator, said he hoped the talks would take place this month. There was no breakthrough in three meetings last year, as Iran rejected a proposal to halt its higher-grade enrichment and close an underground nuclear site in exchange for reactor fuel and civil aviation parts. Some Western diplomats suggest Tehran may want to wait to set a date for the talks with the powers until after its next meeting with the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran next Wednesday.