Brussels, 03/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 15 May, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton will meet the Iranian chief negotiator, Saïd Jalili, in Istanbul to discuss the Iranian nuclear programme, a spokesperson told EUROPE on 3 May. Ashton and Jalili did not apparently speak directly on the telephone to arrange the meeting, according to the information that EUROPE has. The meeting - the goal of which is to make progress on the negotiations - takes place following the last meeting of the E3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States and Russia) and Iran in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 5-6 April (see EUROPE 10822) - after Ashton consulted the members of the E3+3 who were at the G8 meeting on 10-11 April, then China.
At the end of the discussions in Almaty, Ashton said that it had become evident that the positions of the E3+3 and of Tehran were very far apart on substance. Jalili spoke of a certain distance between the positions of the two sides. The parties then left for their home countries to assess the issue and where they were in the process. A Western diplomatic source then said that there was enough substance for the negotiations to continue (see EUROPE 10823).
Presidential elections are due to take place in Iran on 14 June, which limits the possibilities in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue. (CG/transl.fl)