Iraqi Foreign Minister to meet 5+1 envoys as Iran offers Baghdad host talks

TEHRAN, April 4 (MNA) – The Iraqi foreign minister said on Wednesday that Iran has proposed holding the next round of talks with the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) in Iraq instead of Turkey. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said he would meet with ambassadors from the 5+1 group on Tehran’s plan. The proposal comes as Iran and the major powers are reportedly scheduled to meet for nuclear talks in Istanbul on April 13-14. Zebari said the proposal for talks in Iraq came from an Iranian delegation visiting Baghdad on Tuesday. “The proposal came from them. We received a delegation from Iran... Today we are inviting G5 plus one ambassadors to hand over a letter about the proposal,” Zebari told Reuters. Iran’s Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaii proposed on Monday that the next round of talks between Iran and the 5+1 group would be held in Baghdad, Beirut, or Damascus instead of Istanbul. “In view of the fact that our friends in Turkey have failed to honor some agreements, it is better that the talks between Iran and the 5+1 group would be held in another friendly country,” said Rezaii, a former presidential contender.