Iran and the world powers resumed on Tuesday the discussions over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, after the first day of tough negotiations failed to produce any tangible results.
Iran and the world powers resumed on Tuesday the discussions over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, after the first day of tough negotiations failed to produce any tangible results.
The two sides opened their first plenary session of talks after the Iranian team had bilateral discussions in the morning with the Russian delegation and the world powers held their own internal meeting to coordinate strategy.
"We believe we are at a crossroads. And today the opposite side has to choose a path," said a member of the Iranian delegation, asking not to be named.
"One direction is an exit from the deadlock that has existed for the last 10 years. We have been fully transparent about the detailed steps needed to take this path."
The diplomat complained that the world powers' responses in talks the day earlier had been "superficial" but did not give any comment on the progress of negotiations so far Tuesday.
"We spoke for about four hours in detail. The opposing side gave one-line and superficial answers."
After a pause for lunch and prayers, a new plenary session was to start in the afternoon, Western diplomats said
The Iranian delegation is headed by chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
The P5+1 is made up of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus EU powerhouse Germany. The discussions on behalf of the big powers are being coordinated by the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
EU delegation spokesman Michael Mann said that world powers had on Monday repeated the demand at the last session of talks in Baghdad last month that Iran stops enriching uranium to 20 percent.
The Islamic Republic however "brought up lots of questions and well-known positions, including past grievances," Mann said.
‘IRAN MUST COMPLY WITH NUCLEAR OBLIGATIONS’
Earlier on Monday, Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, issued a joint statement calling on Iran to comply with its nuclear obligations.
"We agree that Iran must undertake serious efforts aimed at restoring international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program," the two leaders said in a joint statement after meeting in Mexico, AFP reported.
"To this end, Tehran must fully comply with its obligations...and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency for the expedited resolution of all remaining issues," the statement said.
