Brussels, 19/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The E3+3 experts provided further details on the revised confidence building proposal put forward to Iran during the Almaty meeting on 26-27 February, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stated on 19 March when speaking about the meeting of Western and Iranian experts on the Iranian nuclear programme the day before in Istanbul. He added that the Istanbul meeting also provided the opportunity for the experts from the two parties “to explore each other's positions on a number of technical subjects”.
The E3+3 delegation (Germany, France, United Kingdom, China, United States and Russia) was led by nuclear expert Dr Stephan Klement. This experts' meeting had been decided upon at the last political level meeting on 25-26 February (see EUROPE 10795). It was expected to enable a detailed explanation of what the Western proposal meant - a proposal which includes “adequate measures to address (…) the issue of 20% enrichment but (…) also takes into account the on-going expansion of Iranian enrichment activities”, according a Western diplomat (see EUROPE 10797).
As previously agreed, these technical discussions will be followed by a political level meeting in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 5-6 April, Ashton's spokesperson said.