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Bilateral talks between Iran, EU possible - spokesman

Iran Materials 26 February 2013 13:33 (UTC +04:00)
EU does not exclude possibility to holding bilateral talks with the Iranian side, Spokesman for EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton, Michael Mann told RIA Novosti.
Bilateral talks between Iran, EU possible - spokesman

EU does not exclude possibility to holding bilateral talks with the Iranian side, Spokesman for EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton, Michael Mann told RIA Novosti.

"If there is a wish for such talks, then they can be held," Mann said at the briefing.

He did not specity the exact schedule of the talks, however said that the plenary session that started at 13:30 (local time) will last until 16:30 (local time).

After that, according to Mann, the sides will go on a break, during which the bilateral meetings could be held between the parties.

Mann added that in the morning a bilateral meeting between Iran and China has already been held, as well as consultations between Russia the EU, France and Germany representatives.

Mann also said that the EU does not expect the negotiations to end in one day, as it will probably take two days.

"A lot depends on the dynamic of the negotiations between the sides. But we would've been surprised if the negotiations ended in one day," Mann said. "We expect them to last two days."

Iran's team of nuclear negotiators headed by Secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Feb. 24.

The P5+1 team of negotiators is being headed by the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Earlier Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the negotiations between Iran and P5+1 group in Kazahstan will not bring any significant results, however Moscow hopes for Tehran being better prepared for the dialogue with the Six powers.

In 2012, representatives of P5+1 group and Iran held three rounds of talks in Istanbul (April 14), Baghdad (May 23-24) and Moscow (June18-19). None of these meetings resulted in breakthroughs on disputed nuclear issues.

Previously talks between the "Six Powers" and Iran were not conducted for over a year.

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 researches instead.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

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