Iran agrees to Dec. 6-7 nuclear talks: EU

November 30, 2010 04:47 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 10:53 pm IST - BRUSSELS

Iran has agreed to discuss its nuclear programme at a meeting next week in Geneva, the European Union announced on Tuesday.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, will meet with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on December 6 and 7 — the first talks in a year after negotiations bogged down.

Her office said she will act “on behalf” of the U.S., China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany — six nations representing the international community in its standoff with Tehran over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Officials from the six nations are expected to attend the Geneva talks.

The United States and its allies say Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran denies that. However, Iran’s enrichment program is of international concern because it can create both fuel for an electricity-generating reactor as well as nuclear warhead material. Iran insists it wants to enrich only to run a nuclear reactor network.

The U.S. and some of its allies are pushing Tehran to fully open all facilities to international inspection and to give up uranium enrichment, a key element that could give it a pathway to a bomb. Iran says it has a right to enrich uranium for producing nuclear fuel.

Last month, the EU rejected Istanbul as a venue saying there was no need for another regional power to get involved.

Negotiations foundered a year ago over a U.N.-drafted proposal for Iran to ship most of its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad for further processing and to be returned in the form of fuel rods for a Tehran research reactor that makes isotopes used in cancer treatment.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.