EU, Iran to Prepare Nuclear Diplomacy During U.N. Meeting

{{The European Union and Iran will discuss a resumption of nuclear negotiations during a United Nations gathering this month, possibly setting a date for a new round of talks aimed ultimately at preventing a new Middle East war.}}

Talks between Iran and six world powers overseen by the EU’s top diplomat have been stalled since April. The West is keen to resume them with Iran having elected a moderate president but still expanding its uranium enrichment capacity and Israel brandishing hints of bombing runs on Iranian nuclear sites.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday the Iranian foreign ministry would take over negotiations in what appeared a move to streamline Iran’s nuclear diplomacy, after years of security hardliners dominating the process.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton spoke to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday and agreed to meet him to discuss planning, including a date, for new talks on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York.

“I was responding to the news that the foreign ministry will take responsibility of the talks,” she told reporters about her call to Zarif, speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania. “We have dates available and he and I will meet in order to get things moving.”

Ashton said she has developed a “rapport” with Zarif since his appointment after Rouhani’s election in June and had reiterated to him the six big powers’ desire to talk soon.

Western powers in the group – the United States, France, Britain and Germany – believe Iran is seeking the ability to make nuclear weapons and have engineered painful international economic sanctions to pressure Tehran into making concessions.

The Islamic Republic denies any bomb agenda, saying it needs nuclear power for electricity generation and medical research.

The two non-Western big powers – Russia and China – are not convinced Iran seeks nuclear weapons capability but want it to clear up doubts about its intentions through a negotiated deal.

{wirestory}