White House sees "positive first step" in Iran talks

The new round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 comprising the US, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany began here on Saturday. This is the second time Turkey is hosting the negotiations between Tehran and the sextet. The Iranian delegation, headed by Supreme National Security Council Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, arrived in Istanbul on Friday. Iran and the Group 5+1 agreed to resume talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 14 and a second round in the Iraqi capital city, Baghdad. The last meeting between the two sides took place in Istanbul in January 2011.

"Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations"Iran and the G5+1 had also held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed the West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing those sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians’ national resolve to continue the path. On the threshold of talks with G5+1, Jalili said on Wednesday that exerting pressure on Iran will backfire as the country believes in talks based on mutual cooperation. He voiced Iran’s readiness for successful talks based on mutual cooperation and also expressed the hope that the other side would pursue the same policy in order to win the trust of the Iranian nation. “The Iranian delegation is to take new initiatives in talks with G5+1 and we hope the other side will do the same,” he said. G5+1 needed more time to get ready for the upcoming talks with Iran, he said.