Istanbul to host Iran-5+1 talks in April: Turkish FM

TEHRAN, March 11 (MNA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that Turkey will host the next round of talks between Iran and the six major powers, which is expected to be held in April, the Istanbul-based Hürriyet Daily News reported on Friday. Turkey had already announced its readiness to host the talks between Tehran and the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany), and Iranian officials had stated that they preferred that the meetings be held in Istanbul. The 5+1 group issued a statement on March 8 saying that the next round of talks with Iran should produce “concrete” results. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the major powers in nuclear negotiations with Tehran, sent a letter to Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili on March 6 and offered to resume talks with the Islamic Republic. In late January 2011, a new round of talks between Iran and the major powers was held in Istanbul, but no date was set for the next round of negotiations. After the end of the Geneva talks in early December 2010, Jalili announced that Iran and the 5+1 group had agreed that the next rounds of talks should focus on common ground for cooperation. However, the 5+1 group reneged on the agreement, and after the end of the Geneva talks, Ashton read out a statement saying the nuclear issue would be the focus of the next round of talks, a move which drew strong criticism from Iranian officials. The main bone of contention between Tehran and the West is Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Iran says all its nuclear activities are totally peaceful, and, as an International Atomic Energy Agency member and a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory, it has the legal right to produce nuclear fuel for its research reactors and nuclear power plants.