Ashton Voices Readiness To Resume G5+1-Iran Talks

Tehran, Aug 7, IRNA -- European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, expressed the world powers’ readiness to engage in “meaningful talks” with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear issue. In a Tuesday letter to Hassan Rohani, Ashton congratulated the new Iranian president on his inauguration and noted that he as Iran’s new chief executive has won “a strong mandate to engage in dialogue and cooperation with the international community to seek a swift resolution to serious concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities.” “I write to tell you that, together with the G5+1, I stand ready to continue talks to find a resolution (to Iran nuclear issue) as quickly as possible,” wrote Ashton, who represents the six world powers in the comprehensive talks with Tehran. “I hope that we can schedule meaningful talks with your negotiating team as soon as feasible,” she said. The letter comes on the same day that Rohani expressed Tehran’s readiness to enter into “meaningful” negotiations with the G5+1 -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia, and China plus Germany. “We are prepared to enter serious and meaningful negotiations with determination and without wasting time, and if our opposing party is equally ready, I am confident that the concerns of both sides will be allayed through dialogue,” the Iranian president said on Tuesday in his first press conference since he took office on Sunday. Iran and the G5+1 group have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Iran’s nuclear energy program. On July 19, a “senior Western diplomat” reportedly said the election of Rohani as Iran’s next president can be “an opportunity” in the future talks between the P5+1 and Iran. The diplomat added that the P5+1 expect that Iran would “soon” appoint a new negotiating team, so the talks can resume “as soon as possible”. The US, Israel and some of their allies falsely claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the unfounded allegation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on Iran. Tehran strongly rejects the groundless claim over its nuclear activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes./end