Iran Hopes for World Powers' Constructive Approach to Baghdad Talks
(FNA)- Iran's foreign minister hoped the six world powers party to the talks with Tehran would come to the upcoming round of negotiations in Baghdad with a positive and constructive approach.
According to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Bureau, Ali Akbar Salehi made the remarks during a phone call on Saturday with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.
During the phone conversation, the two sides discussed the latest coordination made between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) over the upcoming Baghdad talks.
Both diplomats also expressed the hope that the talks would result in positive achievements and lead to a step forward in the settlement of Iran-West nuclear impasse.
Salehi underlined that Tehran would attend the Baghdad talks with good and serious will, and stressed, "We expect the opposite side to enter the talks with a similar constructive approach and morale so that a deserving use can be made of this opportunity."
Iran on May 23 is to meet representatives of the Group 5+1, comprising the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, in Iraq's capital for the second round of talks which were revived in April in Istanbul after a 15-month hiatus.
After April 14 talks between Iran and the G5+1 in Istanbul, Tehran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili said that withdrawing sanctions against Iran should be a focal point in any future talks on cooperation between Iran and the world powers.
"It is of crucial importance that our (future) cooperation will entail reciprocal steps, that is, our nation's trust should be built in the trend of talks and cooperation," Jalili told reporters at a press conference after the second meeting with the representatives of the G5+1 in Istanbul.
He said the Iranian nation is only demanding "the very same rights enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)", and reiterated, "Iran, as an active member of the NPT, should enjoy its rights alongside its undertakings."
"We deeply believe that removal of sanctions, which is demanded by the Iranian nation, is one of the issues which should receive attention in the trend of talks on cooperation," the Iranian top negotiator underscored.