Talks underway in Turkey amid hopes of easing Iranian nuclear crisis

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The six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain - met senior Iranian officials for the first time in 15 months for talks aimed at calming deepening tensions over Tehran's nuclear work.

"They met in a constructive atmosphere," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the powers in dealings with Iran. "We had a positive feeling that they did want to engage."

A second session of talks was scheduled later in the day. Diplomats expect Tehran to lay out "new initiatives" to push forward negotiations.

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson and Justyna Pawlak; editing by Tim Pearce)

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