Brussels, 16/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Iran and the E3+3 (France, Germany, United Kingdom, plus China, Russia and the United States) will meet in Baghdad on 23 May to continue discussions on the Iranian nuclear programme after preliminary talks on 14 April which the spokesperson for EU High Representative Catherine Ashton described as having been “positive and totally different from the previous time”. The E3+3 has determined a framework for negotiation with Iran on its nuclear programme. According to the head of the French delegation Jacques Audibert, “It won't be easy in Baghdad. We have opened up a process, now we have to put something in it”.
Underlining that the discussions on 14 April had been “constructive and useful”, Ashton said that the E3+3 expected that “subsequent meetings will lead to concrete steps towards a comprehensive negotiated solution which restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme”. “In our efforts to do so, we will be guided by the principle of the step-by-step approach and reciprocity”, she added.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said that the “upcoming discussions will be important: Iran must deliver swift and definite signals so that confidence can be established, in line with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency”. “We look forward to the next round of talks”, said United Kingdom Foreign Secretary William Hague, stating that the previous meeting had been a “first step” towards a peaceful, negotiated solution though indicating that “there is still a long way to go”.
Iranian Chief Negotiator Said Jalili welcomed the “desire of the other side for dialogue and cooperation” which the Iranians consider “a positive sign”. He said the issue of the enrichment of uranium, one of the main areas of contention between the countries of the West and Iran, had not been broached. (CG/transl.rt)