Iran has rejected several offers extended by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton - who leads the world powers in the negotiations with Tehran - to hold the next round of talks with the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in European countries, diplomatic sources revealed on Thursday, Fars reported.
Diplomatic sources told FNA Thursday evening that Iran has rejected repeated offers by the western side to hold the next round of talks with the world powers in several European countries, and that undersecretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Baqeri and EU foreign policy deputy chief Schmitt still continue negotiations about the venue of the talks.
The Iranian team of negotiators is led by Supreme National Security Counci Secretary Saeed Jalili, while delegations of the six world powers are headed by EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton. The deputies of Jalili and Ashton are in charge of discussions over the date and venue of the talks.
The sources said Ashton had named several European countries, including Norway, Switzerland and Austria, for holding the talks with Iran, but the Iranian side has rejected Ashton's offers, stressing that it is not interested in attending the talks in these countries.
Meantime, recent reports also revealed that while the two sides continue discussions in this regard, several Asian countries have also voiced their readiness for hosting the Tehran-powers negotiations. Baghdad and Istanbul are said to have the most chances to host these talks, but the sources said that the Iraqi capital is Iran's number one candidate.
Also, diplomats told FNA that the Iranian SNSC Undersecretary and the EU foreign policy deputy chief have agreed on April 14 as the date for holding the next round of talks.
The last meeting between the two sides took place in Istanbul in January 2011. Iran and the G5+1 had also held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010.
Iran's political circles and figures have recently increased their demands for changing the venue of the Iran-G5+1 talks from Istanbul to another Asian city.
After Expediency Council Secretary and former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezayee, Iranian legislators also asked the government to change the venue of the talks with the world powers from Istanbul, Turkey, to the capital of another regional country.
Influential lawmaker Seyed Mohammad Javad Abtahi on Wednesday called on Ahmadinejad's government to choose another place, other than Turkey or Istanbul, for the upcoming talks with the world power.
Abtahi pointed to the so-called 'Friends of Syria' conference in Istanbul, and said the meeting showed that Turkey is practically implementing what he called "West and the Zionist regime of Israel's policies in the region".
He asked the Iranian officials to avoid choosing Istanbul as the venue for the Iran-G5+1 talks, and stated, "The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) should revise its view about the venue of the talks."
On Monday, EC Secretary Mohsen Rezayee called on Tehran's nuclear and foreign policy officials to change the venue of the upcoming talks with the world powers from Istanbul, Turkey, to another regional capital like Baghdad, Damascus or Beirut.
Rezayee, who was addressing the staff of the EC Secretariat, said, "Given the fact that our friends in Turkey have failed to fulfill some of our agreements, the talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) had better be held in another friendly country."
Meantime, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said earlier on Wednesday that President Ahmadinejad has suggested a venue for the upcoming talks with the G5+1, which would be announced soon.
He said that during the cabinet's meeting on Wednesday morning President Ahmadinejad had suggested a venue for the talks which would be later declared by SNSC Secretary and Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili.