Brussels, 04/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The next round of negotiations between Iran and the E3+3 Group (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States and Russia) could take place in Kazakhstan on 25 February, the Iranian and European parties stated on 3 February. Although the Iranian minister for foreign affairs, Ali Akbar Salehi, has announced the place and date of the meeting, he has not made clear whether his country has accepted the invitation. “I have good news. I heard yesterday that the 5+1 Group could meet in Kazakhstan on 25 February”, he said at the security conference in Munich (Germany). “It is good to hear that the foreign minister has finally confirmed now [Ed: the proposed date and place]. We hope the negotiating team will also confirm”, said the spokesperson to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Michael Mann. Proposals for dates and places have been made since December but without the two parties reaching an agreement.
The vice-president of America, Joe Biden, who proposed bilateral negotiations between the United States and Iran, believed that there was “still time, there is still space for diplomacy, backed by pressure, to succeed”. “The ball is in the government of Iran's court, and it's well past time for Tehran to adopt a serious, good-faith approach”, he added, while stating to Le Figaro on 3 February that “the diplomatic window is closing” (our translation). (CG/transl.fl)