West sees enough substance for Iran talks to continue

TEHRAN,April 10(MNA) – World powers believe there are enough grounds to keep talking to Iran about its nuclear program, a senior Western diplomat said on Monday, even though the latest round of negotiations made little apparent progress, Reuters reported. “There is enough substance for these negotiations to continue,” the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters. “I would not expect a breakdown.” At a meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Friday and Saturday, the six nations - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - tried to persuade Iran to give up its most sensitive uranium-enrichment work. Iranian negotiators did not accept the offer - coupled with a pledge of modest relief from economic sanctions - and the two sides failed to even agree to meet again. Some Western diplomats have said that while the two sides failed to bridge their differences in the decade-old dispute in Almaty, there was some optimism because of the apparent willingness of Iranian negotiators to engage in detailed discussions of their proposal. Iran denies having any military intentions and says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity and for medical purposes. It wants the international community to recognize its right to enrich uranium and lift major economic sanctions. Following the failure of Almaty talks, the six powers are seeking to reassess their approach to persuade the Iranian side to agree. In the coming days, the issue will come up during a meeting of foreign ministers of Group of Eight countries, which include all the six powers except China. The EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who oversees diplomatic contacts with Iran on behalf of the six nations, will also discuss plans for further engagement with Iran’s chief negotiator Saeed Jalili in the coming days. Iran’s presidential election in June also fuels uncertainty abroad over Tehran’s short-term approach to the nuclear dispute. In Brussels, the senior diplomat said a lack of clarity on presidential candidates, for example, clouded the understanding of Iran’s domestic politics. Some analysts believe that presidential election will have no effect on Iran’s nuclear policy.