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EU "studying carefully" Iran's response on nuclear talks offer

Iran Materials 7 July 2010 17:56 (UTC +04:00)
Iran's conditional acceptance to resume international talks on the nuclear programme is being studied "carefully" by the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, officials said Wednesday.
EU "studying carefully" Iran's response on nuclear talks offer

Iran's conditional acceptance to resume international talks on the nuclear programme is being studied "carefully" by the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, officials said Wednesday, DPA reported.

Ashton had made the offer of talks to Iran's top negotiator Saeid Jalili, writing to him on behalf of the "EU 3+3" or "5+1," the six- country group negotiating with Tehran comprising of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

An EU diplomat confirmed to the German Press Agency dpa that Ashton received a response from Jalili "late last night."

"She is currently studying it carefully with her service and will discuss it further with the EU 3+3 partners and respond in due course," the source added.

   The international community suspects that Iran's nuclear programme is designed to create an atomic bomb, something that Tehran denies. As a result, the country has been hit by several sets of UN sanctions, with the latest round approved last month.

On Tuesday, Jalili said his country was prepared to resume talks with the EU, which had conducted previous unsuccessful attempts at a negotiated solution on behalf of the international community.

But as a precondition, Iran's negotiator said the bloc should first clarify its position on Israel's nuclear arsenal, and on the Jewish state's rejection of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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