Tehran (dpa) – Iran declared Saturday its readiness to resume talks about its contested nuclear programs with world powers, but the European Union reacted with caution. Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said in a meeting with a visiting Chinese official in Tehran that Iran was ready to resume talks with the six world powers over its nuclear programs. Additionally, chief nuclear negotiator Saeid Jalili planned to inform European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton about Iran's readiness to resume the nuclear talks. Mehr news agency quoted Iran's ambassador to Berlin, Ali-Reza Sheikh-Attar, as saying that Jalili would soon forward the intention of Iranian readiness to Ashton, who leads the six involved parties – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – in the talks. However, a spokesman for Ashton in Brussels said had written to Jalili in October and was still waiting for a response. “We continue to pursue our twin-track approach and are open for meaningful discussions on confidence-building measures, without preconditions from the Iranian side,” her spokesman said, adding that this view was shared by the so-called E3+3 negotiating parties. Jalili himself confirmed that Iran had informed the six world powers about Iran's readiness. “We have officially informed them (powers) to return to the negotiation course,” ISNA news agency quoted Jalili as saying. Ashton said in September that restarting the six-party talks with Iran was possible, but only under strict conditions. All talks between the two sides, including the latest round in January in Istanbul, have failed so far to achieve tangible results. The main reason is that Tehran has constantly rejected the key Western demand – suspension of its uranium enrichment plan as a sign of goodwill until the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programs are proven. While Iran insists that its nuclear programs are just for civil and peaceful purposes, world powers fear that Tehran's atomic technology could be used for secret military projects. Tehran rejects any suspension, and has said it wants the powers to acknowledge its right as signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue nuclear programs. The offer of renewed talks comes weeks after tensions ratcheted upwards following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency indicating that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program. That resulted in toughened sanctions by Western nations which, in turn, prompted Iranian demonstrators to storm the British embassy in Tehran and a cessation of diplomatic ties between the two countries. More recently, some Iranian officials have threatened to block shipments of oil through the critical Strait of Hormuz, prompting outrage in the West. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/qAKUo Tags: Diplomacy, Feature, Nuclear Power, Tehran Section: Iran, Latest News
