Brussels, 04/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 3 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said she was “cautiously optimistic” ahead of the negotiations between the E3+3 group (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States and Russia) and Iran on the issue of Iran's nuclear programme. The negotiations will take place in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 5-6 April. “I remain always cautiously optimistic but I am also very clear that it is very important that we do get a response. I look forward to what I hope will be a successful meeting in Almaty and I really do hope that Iran will now... respond to it” (the West's proposal made during the previous meeting in February) she stated.
Ashton said she hoped for a “fruitful meeting”, and wanted Iran to examine the proposal carefully that they had put on the table and to respond to it. This meeting has been described by one diplomat as “the” important meeting, which will show if Iran wants to engage seriously (see EUROPE 10797).
During the last discussions on 26-27 February (see EUROPE 10795), which Ashton deemed useful, the E3+3 put forward a new proposal aimed at confidence building. Ashton reiterated that the technical discussions in Turkey on 18 March were also useful and that numerous questions were asked by the experts, “which is a good sign” in Ashton's eyes (see EUROPE 10810).
Recognition of the right to enrichment. On 4 April, the Iranian chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said that “Iran wants its right to enrich (uranium) to be recognised” at Friday and Saturday's negotiations. “We think that they (the West) can open the negotiations tomorrow (this Friday) by a sentence - a sentence which will accept Iran's right, in particular, to enrich”, he said in a speech in Almaty. The Russian deputy minister of foreign affairs, Igor Morgulov, said on 3 April that Russia believes that a long term settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue must be founded on “the unconditional right (of Iran) to develop its civil nuclear programme”. (CG/transl.fl)