TEHRAN: Iran agreed Monday to hold talks with six world powers next month on its latest proposals to allay concerns over its nuclear program, in a move Washington welcomed as an “important first step.”
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana spoke by telephone with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and they agreed that talks would be held Oct. 1 between Iran and representatives of the six powers.
“Iran is ready for a serious dialogue in October,” Jalili said. “This morning we reached an agreement with the Iranians to hold a meeting on Oct. 1,” Solana’s spokeswoman said.
The venue for the talks between Iran and the six nations — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — is yet to be decided.
Washington welcomed Tehran’s agreement to enter talks. “Let’s say it’s an important first step and one hopes for the best,” US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the UN atomic watchdog in Vienna.
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said in Vienna that Tehran hoped the talks would pave the way for the future. “We have always stated that we are in favor of dialogue, but of course unconditional dialogue,” he told reporters.
Laying down conditions for dialogue was “tantamount to foregone conclusions. What are you going to discuss about if you really want to put conditions?” he asked.
The six powers had called for urgent talks with Iran after it handed new proposals to their representatives on Wednesday. Washington had expressed disappointment with the package, saying it was “not really responsive to our greatest concern,” but Moscow said it offered “something to dig into.”
According to a copy of the proposals obtained and published by US nonprofit investigative journalism group, Pro Publica, Iran said it was prepared to hold “comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive negotiations.” The talks would address nuclear disarmament as well as a global framework for the use of “clean nuclear energy,” the document said, without specifically referring to Iran’s own nuclear program.
