Iran waiting to see goodwill, flexibility from world powers - official

A senior Iranian foreign ministry official said that the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) have adopted a logical stance in the recent talks with Tehran in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but meantimne added that Iran is still waiting to see more flexibility from the opposite side, FNA reported.

"The proposals of the G5+1 at the meeting in Almaty have become closer to the proposals of the Islamic Republic of Iran and they are more logical and realistic in nature," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania Affairs Abbas Araqchi said, addressing foreign ambassadors to Tehran on Thursday.

Stressing that different aspects of the group's proposals are still unclear, Araqchi stated, "Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects that the groundwork will be laid for achieving a consensus at the next Almaty session in April 2013, after Iran witnesses proper goodwill and flexibility from the other side."

Meantime, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underscored that the stances and positions adopted by the world powers during the recent talks with Tehran in Almaty contained only minor and unimportant changes.

Addressing Experts Assembly members in Tehran on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the westerners did not do something important; rather they admitted a small section of the Iranian nation's rights.

He stressed that the next round of negotiations between Iran and the six major world powers of the Group 5+1 will be a test of the of Western sincerity.

Iran and six world powers last week agreed on further meetings after two days of talks in Kazakhstan, the first since negotiations broke down in June, 2012.

During the talks Iran and the world powers agreed to hold an experts meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 17-18 and then continue their talks at the level of their top negotiators in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on April 5-6.