Asia

Asia

Iran’s Jalili arrives in Turkey for talks

20 January 2011 23:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has arrived in the Turkish city of Istanbul for comprehensive talks with representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Saeed Jalili arrived in Istanbul on Thursday afternoon at the helm of a high level delegation, Fars news agency reported.

The Iranian delegation is scheduled to hold negotiations with representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany on January 21 and 22 as part of multifaceted talks between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group, which comprises Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

Iran and the P5+1 representatives held their previous round of talks in the Swiss city of Geneva on December 6-7, during which both sides agreed to hold the next round of negotiations in the Turkish city of Istanbul in late January.

The comprehensive talks were held between Jalili and the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1.

Prior to the talks, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council made it clear that the Islamic Republic would go through these talks with a positive standpoint, insisting that â€œIran’s indisputable capacityâ€ will provide a good opportunity for boosting cooperation on the global stage.

In an interview with NBC Channel on Jan. 17, Jalili further stated that the two sides will discuss issues of common interest based upon the agreement achieved in the previous round of talks in Geneva.

Ahead of the Istanbul talks, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday expressed hope that the issue of unilateral sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program ranks high on the agenda in the forthcoming negotiations.

He called upon the six major world powers to move towards lifting Iran sanctions.

On June 9, the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of US-engineered sanctions against Iran’s military and financial sectors.

The US, the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons, and some of its allies, accuse Iran of trying to develop a military nuclear program and have used the claim as a pretext to impose sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran dismisses Western allegations that it is following a military nuclear program, insisting that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology.