Strasbourg, 12/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The E3+3 group (Germany, France, United Kingdom; United States, China and Russia) and Iran came to an agreement, on Monday 11 June, on the agenda for discussions on Iran's nuclear programme to be held in Moscow on 18 and 19 June, announced EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton further to a telephone conversation with her Iranian counterpart, Chief Negotiator Saïd Jalili.
In a press release, Ashton states that she had held a one hour telephone conversation with Jalili to brief him on the conclusions of the E3+3 meeting held a little earlier that day. Ashton and Jalili “agreed on the need for Iran to engage on the E3+3 proposals, which address its concerns on the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme”, and Ashton also “conveyed the E3+3's readiness to respond to the issues raised by the Iranians in Baghdad”, the press release states.
On Tuesday 12, Iran confirmed the agreement, explaining that discussion will cover the requests and proposals made by both parties during discussions in Baghdad in May, including the five-point package of proposals made by Teheran on nuclear and non-nuclear issues. According to an Iranian press release, “Mrs Ashton underlined the need for the Moscow meeting to be a success and trusted that it might result in common ground being reached” on the basis of proposals from both sides.
Prior to the telephone conversation between Ashton and Jalili, E3+3 political directors met in a hotel in Strasbourg under the chairmanship of Ashton, on the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary session, in order to prepare the debates in Moscow.
Over the past few days, there had been a stormy exchange of letters between the High Representative's services and the Iranian authorities. Europeans underlined the lack of resolve on the part of Iran to negotiate on substance, and the Iranians reproached the West for refusing meetings to prepare for the Moscow meeting (see EUROPE 10631). (CG/transl.jl)