German FM welcomes Iran's readiness to resume nuclear talks
Berlin, Oct 29, IRNA -- German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle here on Friday welcomed Iran's readiness to resume talks aimed at resolving the ongoing stalemate over Tehran's nuclear program, calling it 'positive.'
Addressing the press at a joint news conference with his Afghan counterpart Zalmay Rassoul at the foreign ministry, Westerwelle said, 'To begin with, it's positive, if there are signals (by Iran) for new talks.'
He urged all sides involved in the negotiations to have 'concrete and substantial talks.'
Westerwelle's remarks came in the wake of an earlier report by the German press agency dpa which quoted European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton as saying Iran had consented in principle to join international talks on its nuclear program but had yet to agree on a date and location.
Speaking to media representatives ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, Ashton said,'We got a letter this morning from Iran ... (Iranian chief negotiator Saeed) Jalili is willing to agree a time and a venue to begin negotiations after November 10.'
'We are now in touch with Iran to see if we can agree (the) time and venue,' she added.
Ashton negotiates on behalf of the so-called '5+1' group: the five permanent UN security council members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) and Germany.
Earlier this month, Ashton proposed holding talks in Vienna on November 15-17.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
