Iran is ready to resume talks

Iran is ready to resume talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear programme and awaits word from the European Union on timing and details, Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator said yesterday.

Ali Bagheri, Iran’s deputy negotiator, in an interview in Geneva, said Iran needed 20 per cent-enriched uranium for its Tehran research reactor and four others being built, and was continuing to convert some of its stockpile into reactor fuel.

“We are waiting for Lady Ashton to call Dr Jalili, and Dr Jalili is obviously ready to take the call,” Bagheri said.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton oversees diplomatic contacts with Iran on behalf of the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. Saeed Jalili is Iran’s chief negotiator.

“We are waiting to see whether Lady Ashton’s response is going to cover the time and venue of another round of negotiations, or will she limit her response to just discussing the substantive side of things,” Bagheri said.

In Brussels, a spokesman for Ashton said she had consulted with foreign ministers on how to move forward the process. “Arrangements for a phone call with Dr Jalili have already been made in order to discuss next steps,” Michael Mann said.

The six powers and Iran failed in talks in the Kazakh capital Almaty this month to end the deadlock in a decade-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme, prolonging a standoff that could yet spiral into a new Middle East war.

At those talks, the six asked Iran to suspend its most sensitive uranium-enrichment work in return for modest relief from international sanctions, an offer Tehran did not accept.

Iran’s presidential election is set for June 14, leading to speculation on whether the next round of talks will take place before the poll.

“We are ready to continue with the talks ... We have no limits as far as time is concerned,” Bagheri said. (Reuters)