Istanbul & Baghdad, Venues for Iran-P5+1 Talks

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has announced that the first round of the fresh talks between Tehran and the P5+1 will be held in the Turkish city of Istanbul, and the second will be in Baghdad.

“Following several rounds of negotiations between the deputies of [SNSC secretary] Saeed Jalili and [EU foreign policy chief] Catherine Ashton, the two sides agreed to hold the first round of talks on Saturday, April 14 in Istanbul and the second round in Baghdad,” the council’s secretariat announced.

The sides also agreed to announce the time for the Baghdad talks at the end of the Istanbul meeting.

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council has also called for a fresh initiative for nuclear disarmament around the world.

“Regarding the international community’s strong demand for global denuclearization, a new universal move should be launched to disarm nuclear powers, particularly the United States,” said Saeed Jalili.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stressed that Tehran would not accept any preconditions for the negotiations with the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany, expressing hope that a new round of talks would yield win-win results.

“Setting conditions before the meeting means drawing conclusions before negotiations, which is completely meaningless and none of the parties will accept conditions set before the talks,” he stated.

The Iranian foreign minister said both sides have their own stances and views, “but we must reach common grounds.”