Turkish Forum

Tag: nuclear talks

  • Iran proposes to reopen nuclear talks

    Iran proposes to reopen nuclear talks

    Islamic republic says it has notified UN of its intention to resume negotiations amid confusion over reported missile tests

    • David Batty and agencies
    • guardian.co.uk,

    Irans top nuclear negotia 007

    Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili says his country is ready to return to the table. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

    Iran has proposed to reopen negotiations about its controversial nuclear programme with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

    The invitation by Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, comes in the wake of new sanctions recently imposed by the UN over Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme.

    The last round of talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN security council and Germany – held in Istanbul in January – ended in failure.

    “We formally declared to them [the intent] to return to the path of dialogue for cooperation,” Jalili told Iranian diplomats in Tehran, according to the official IRNA news agency.

    Iran’s ambassador to Germany, Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, said earlier on Saturday that Jalili would write to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, to arrange a new round of talks.

    The proposal for new negotiations came as there were conflicting reports as to whether Iran had tested long-range missiles during naval exercises in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s state media initially reported early on Saturday that missiles had been launched – a move likely to worry the west, which is concerned over threats by Tehran to close a vital oil shipping route.

    But Iranian deputy navy commander Mahmoud Mousavi later told Press TV that no missiles had been fired. “The exercise of launching missiles will be carried out in the coming days,” he told the channel, owned by the state Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Corporation.

    The UN has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Tehran over the nuclear enrichment, while the US and the EU have also imposed their own sanctions.

    Earlier in December, Iran reinstated an offer for the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit Tehran, although it did not say whether officials would be able to focus on suspicions that Iran is secretly working on nuclear arms – a key condition set by the agency.

    The US and Israel have not ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn’t stop its nuclear programme. Jalili warned that any attack on Iran would be met with retaliation. “We will give a response that will make the aggressor regret any threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

    via Iran proposes to reopen nuclear talks | World news | guardian.co.uk.

  • Iran calls on EU to resume nuclear talks

    Iran calls on EU to resume nuclear talks

    Tehran – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi has called on the European Union to resume nuclear talks with Iran, the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported Saturday.

    ‘There have been new developments with regards to Iran’s nuclear issue and also other issues,’ Salehi said in a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

    Salehi was referring to his meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano in July, allowing IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and Russian efforts to kickstart the talks.

    ‘Iran and the EU have various issues to discuss and could complement one another through these talks,’ Salehi told Ashton according to a Foreign Ministry statement carried by Fars.

    The statement quoted Ashton as saying that the EU preferred a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

    A letter to her from Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saedi Jalili asking to resume nuclear talks would be answered soon, she said.

    Ashton said in a statement on Wednesday that restarting six-party talks with Iran was possible but under strict conditions.

    The six parties are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – plus Germany.

    While Iran insists that its nuclear programmes is solely for peaceful purposes, the West fears that the same technology could be used for a secret nuclear weapons programme.

    The six-party talks with Iran have all failed, including the latest one in January in Istanbul.

    Tehran has repeatedly rejected the demands of the world powers to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, arguing it is its right as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue peaceful nuclear programmes, including enrichment.

    But there appear to be differences within the Iranian administration on how to proceed with the nuclear talks.

    Mixed signals have been given out concerning the swap deal signed in May last year in Tehran between Iran, Turkey and Brazil. The deal, which foresees Iran exchanging low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods to be used in a medical reactor in Tehran, was once regarded by both sides as a first step towards establishing mutual trust.

    But Iran’s nuclear chief Fereydoun Abbasi said last month that Iran would no longer discuss the swap deal and would itself carry on with the 20 per cent uranium enrichment required for producing fuel for the Tehran reactor.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad however said in New York this week that the swap deal was still on and Iran would stop the 20 per cent enrichment process as soon as the deal was realized.

    via Iran calls on EU to resume nuclear talks – Monsters and Critics.

  • Greenpeace urges Turkey to scrap nuclear talks with Japan’s TEPCO

    Greenpeace urges Turkey to scrap nuclear talks with Japan’s TEPCO

    Environmentalist group Greenpeace urged Turkey to cancel nuclear talks with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the Japanese power utility that is in charge of disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.

    Raindrops are seen on the surface of a logo of Tokyo lectric Power Co. (TEPCO) at its headquarters in Tokyo on May 29, 2011.
    Raindrops are seen on the surface of a logo of Tokyo lectric Power Co. (TEPCO) at its headquarters in Tokyo on May 29, 2011.

    Turkey, which has signed an agreement with Russia for construction of its first nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean province of Mersin, was in talks with TEPCO and Toshiba on building a second one in Sinop, on the Black Sea coast. In May, Japan asked to suspend negotiations. But in June, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız signaled readiness to resume talks with the Japanese companies, saying Turkey wants to clarify the future of talks by mid-July.

    In a statement released on Thursday, Greenpeace slammed TEPCO’s conduct in the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant after a quake-triggered tsunami in March, saying it lacked transparency and accusing TEPCO officials of providing incomplete and incorrect information about radiation levels.

    “It was the Japanese side that wanted the talks on Sinop nuclear plant to be suspended. Now, only three months after the [Fukushima] accident, the Turkish government wants to continue the talks with TEPCO… This is an irresponsible attitude that endangers lives of peoples of Turkey and the neighboring countries,” Pınar Aksoğan of Greenpeace said.

    Aksoğan further urged the Turkish government not to have talks on construction of nuclear power plants with Japan or any other country because “the era of nuclear energy is over.”

    “It is the Turkish government alone that fails to see this fact,” she said.

    Turkey suffers frequent seismic activity, and fears of a major earthquake are ever present in some parts of the country, but the government wants to press ahead with plans for nuclear energy and has given assurances that all safeguards will be taken.

    via Greenpeace urges Turkey to scrap nuclear talks with Japan’s TEPCO.

  • Turkey will not attend Iran-P5+1 talks

    Turkey will not attend Iran-P5+1 talks

    The Turkish ambassador to Tehran says Turkey will only host talks between Iran and the six major world powers and will not participate in the negotiations.

    “Since Iran was interested in talks being held in Turkey, and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, the US, and Germany) had a positive view toward this matter, Turkey accepted Iran’s proposal,” Ambassador Umit Yardim said on Monday.

    Last week, Iran and the P5+1 group wrapped up two days of multifaceted talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

    At the comprehensive talks, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili represented Iran and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton represented the P5+1 group.

    Both sides agreed to hold the next round of talks in Istanbul in late January.

    “As you know, Turkey is sensitive toward Iran’s nuclear issue after signing the Tehran declaration, because this matter is also related to regional issues,” ISNA quoted Yardim as saying.

    The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a declaration in Tehran on May 17, according to which Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel rods to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

    The nuclear declaration gives Iran a guarantee since the low-enriched uranium is to be stored in Turkey and would be returned if Iran does not receive the 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel within one year.

    However, the US and its allies snubbed the declaration and used their influence on the UN Security Council to press for the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran over the country’s civilian nuclear program, which they claim is cover for a nuclear weapons program.

    Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected the accusations, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has the right to use nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes and to enrich uranium to produce fuel.

    And the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

    MYA/CS/MMN/HGL

    via PressTV – Turkey will not attend Iran-P5+1 talks.

  • Iran says ready to talk with G5+1 before cameras

    Iran says ready to talk with G5+1 before cameras

    TEHRAN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — The aide to Iranian nuclear negotiator said the country is ready to hold next round of talks with the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany ( G5+1) in front of the media cameras, the local ISNA news agency reported on Monday.

    “We will be ready to hold the next round of the talks with the media participating,” Abolfazl Zohrehvand, the aid, was quoted as saying.

    The two-day talks behind the closed doors between Iran and the six major powers on Iran’s nuclear program ended on Dec. 7, with both sides agreeing to meet again in late January in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul.

    via Iran says ready to talk with G5+1 before cameras: report.

  • Turkey will be on Iran’s side in future talks with 5+1: ex-MP

    Turkey will be on Iran’s side in future talks with 5+1: ex-MP

    Turkey will be on Iran’s side in future talks with 5+1: ex-MP

    Tehran Times Political Desk

    TEHRAN — Former lawmaker Hamid-Reza Taraqi has said that Iran will not be alone in the next round of talks with the 5+1 group and will have Turkey on its side.

    Iran and the 5+1 group (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany) held talks in Geneva from December 6 to 7. The two sides agreed that the next round of talks be held in Istanbul in late January.

    According to Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, who represented Iran at the talks, the next round of negotiations will focus on “common ground for cooperation.”

    Talking to the Mehr News Agency on Saturday, Taraqi said the fact that the talks will be held in Istanbul will place Turkey on Iran’s side.

    Given the failure of the 5+1 group in the previous round of talks, seemingly Iran will lead the negotiation to its preferred direction which is finding solutions to international issues, added Taraqi, a senior member of the Islamic Coalition Party.

    Talks must be based on defined framework

    Professor Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh has also said the next round of talks must be based on a clear framework and mutual understanding.

    If the two sides again insist on their own opinions, the negotiations will bear no fruit, Mojtahedzadeh, a renowned scholar and geopolitical expert, told the MNA.

    “Before the talks with the 5+1 group, the Iranian delegation must make diplomatic attempts to negotiate based on a clear framework for the first time,” he noted.

    Iran must disclose West’s unjust stance

    Political analyst Mohammad-Hassan Qadiri-Abyaneh has suggested that the Iranian delegation use the opportunity provided by talks to disclose the “unjust stance” of the West.

    The Westerners do not like to see the prosperity of Islamic states as they are seeking to maintain their domination over these countries, he told the MNA.