Baku, Azerbaijan, May 8
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The expert-level nuclear talks with the P5+1 which ended on May 7, were useful, head of Iranian delegation of experts, Hamid Baeedinejad said.
"The two sides discussed the latest viewpoints on the technical issues, ahead of the next round of the political negotiations on the issue next week, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna, Baeedinejad said, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on May 8.
Iran and P5+1(United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia) held two days of technical talks on Tehran's nuclear program in New York on May 6-7.
"The six powers and Iranian technical experts had a useful meeting in New York," Reuters earlier quoted an EU spokesman as saying.
"The talks aimed at further deepening of the knowledge on the issues and to contribute to the preparations for the next round of (senior-level) negotiations on a comprehensive agreement," he added.
A Western diplomat, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran and the six powers have made progress on scenarios for resolving a dispute over Iran's Arak nuclear reactor, which could yield significant quantities of bomb-grade plutonium if it is put on line without major modifications.
"More difficult for getting a deal is uranium enrichment in general and centrifuge R&D (research and development)," the diplomat said.
Under a six-month interim deal between Iran and the P5+1 which took effect on Jan. 20, the six major powers agreed to give Iran access to its $4.2 billion in revenues blocked overseas if the country fulfills the deal's terms which offer sanctions relief in exchange for steps on curbing the Iranian nuclear program.
The two sides intend to continue their talks to reach a final comprehensive agreement on the issue.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical research instead.