Iran, Group 5+1 Agree To Hold Nuclear Talks In Istanbul: Salehi

Tehran, Feb 20, IRNA – Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday that nuclear talks with Group 5+1 will be held in Istanbul. Salehi told a joint press conference with his Nicaraguan counterpart Samuel Santos Lopez that Tehran had offered Istanbul to be venue of the talks and the other negotiating party accepted the offer. Salehi said that the venue has been accepted in a contact with European Union foreign policy and security chief Catherine Ashton two months ago. He said that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced afterwards that Turkey is ready to host the Iranian and Group 5+1 negotiators for the upcoming nuclear talks and this has been conveyed to Mrs. Ashton. 'In his letter to Mrs. Ashton, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili has made it clear that Iran is willing to resume talks at the earliest convenience and cited Istanbul as the venue for the talks,' Salehi said. Asked about the goal of the upcoming nuclear talks, Salehi said that Iran is looking for a mechanism to get a win-win outcome for the two negotiating parties. 'We understand the situation of the other party and are looking for a prestigious way-out for the negotiating partners,' Salehi said. He said that Iran would take part in the negotiations with positive attitude and goodwill and expect the Group 5+1 to display good will too. Responding to a question about the number of new generation centrifuges installed at Fordo nuclear site, Salehi said that Iran has communicated the number of new centrifuges to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency and the IAEA will reflect them in its next report on Iran in March. 'Iran has put all its nuclear sites under IAEA supervision and the agency is monitoring them round the clock.'/end