Brussels, 20/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday 17 February, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton emphasised that it was good to see that Iran's letter of reply to the letter the EU had sent it regarding the nuclear programme in October had arrived and that there was a possibility that Tehran would be prepared to begin talks. Ashton pointed out that she is involved in consultations with members of the 3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom, US, China and Russia) and that they are analysing what this letter could mean very closely. According to Clinton and Ashton, the letter proposes discussions without any prior conditions being laid out and an identification of what they intend to discuss.
The high representative emphasised that if they began negotiations, they wanted to continue them and to achieve this it was necessary to define what the 3+3 countries want to achieve and what they expect from the Iranians. Ashton states that there are two questions: one on confidence building measures and the other on support for Tehran's nuclear research and civilian nuclear programme. (CG/transl.fl)