BRUSSELS - Iran is ready to hold its first talks with world powers in more than a year about its disputed nuclear program any time after Nov. 10, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Friday.The meeting with a group of six world powers would be the first in the long-running dispute since October 2009 and also the first since the United Nations, the United States and European Union imposed tougher sanctions on Iran this year.
Western officials say the punitive measures are increasingly damaging the economy of the world No. 5 oil producer and that this may persuade it to agree to curb sensitive atomic activity. Iran has dismissed the impact of sanctions and shown no sign of backing down over a uranium enrichment drive.
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Earlier this month, Ashton invited Jalili to hold three days of talks in Vienna from Nov. 15 to 17.
“Dr Jalili ... is agreeable to begin discussions after Nov. 10 and wants to agree the time and place. I think this is a very significant move,” she told reporters at an EU summit.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomed Iran’s signal, but said the content of the talks was what mattered. “The key thing is that these are talks of substance: this is what all participants will be measured by,” he said in Berlin.
Washington said it remained to be seen if Tehran was ready for serious negotiation. “We would hope that Iran would come to the table prepared for a meaningful dialogue,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
In Tehran, Iran’s state Press TV confirmed the letter and referred to previously stated pre-conditions for talks such as “clarification on Israel’s ambiguous nuclear program,” Israel is believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East.
An EU diplomat said it now looked like the meeting would take place in Geneva rather than Vienna. The aim was for three days of discussions with “everything on the table,” including broad discussion of Iran’s nuclear activities.