Next round of Iran nuclear talks to take place in February
15 Jan 2014 4:07 AM IST
World powers and Iran will very likely meet again on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in February, shortly after a six-month deal restricting its atomic work goes into effect, a diplomatic source said on Monday.
The new round of talks will aim for a broad settlement in the decade-old dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program that could ease the risk of mistrust leading to deeper tensions or even conflict in the Middle East.
The talks, led by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, will face the challenge of defining a permissible scope of Iranian nuclear work that will lay to rest western concerns that it could have military goals. In return, Iran wants governments in the United States and Europe to end decades of painful economic sanctions.
The source said the first meeting in the new phase of diplomacy between Iran and six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - would include Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. ‘It won’t happen in January, because of the Chinese New Year, but it is very, very, very likely in February,’ the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The new round of talks will aim for a broad settlement in the decade-old dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program that could ease the risk of mistrust leading to deeper tensions or even conflict in the Middle East.
The talks, led by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, will face the challenge of defining a permissible scope of Iranian nuclear work that will lay to rest western concerns that it could have military goals. In return, Iran wants governments in the United States and Europe to end decades of painful economic sanctions.
The source said the first meeting in the new phase of diplomacy between Iran and six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - would include Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. ‘It won’t happen in January, because of the Chinese New Year, but it is very, very, very likely in February,’ the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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