Iran: No preconditions before P5+1 talks
Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has stressed that Tehran will not accept any preconditions for the negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the world’s six major powers (P5+1), expressing hope that a new round of talks would yield win-win results.
Asked about reports that the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany) may demand certain conditions for the upcoming talks with Iran, Salehi said, “Setting conditions before the meeting means drawing conclusions before negotiations, which is completely meaningless and none of the parties will accept conditions set before the talks.”
“These issues are merely media speculations and we cannot base our judgment on issues reflected in the media,” Salehi said on Monday, icana.ir reported.
The Iranian foreign minister said both sides have their own stances and views, “but we must reach common grounds.”
Salehi added that the venue of the talks will be announced by Iranian negotiators.
Iran and the P5+1 have held two rounds of multifaceted talks, one in Geneva in December 2010 and another in the Turkish city of Istanbul in January 2011.
Fresh negotiations are set to resume on April 13. However, the venue for the talks is yet to be announced.
While Tehran says it is ready to continue the talks based on common grounds, it has stressed that it will not give up any of its rights.