The negotiations between Iran and the "Six" will be held in Istanbul on Jan. 21-22, the official representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast said at a weekly press conference, Mehr news agency reported.
He said that Iran and the Six, which include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely Great Britain, China, Russia, U.S and France and Germany, will unite to define the general principles and objectives of cooperation, as was agreed upon in Geneva.
Earlier this month, Turkish newspaper "Today's Zaman" reported that Turkey will hold the talks on Iran's nuclear program on Jan. 20-21.
Another round of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue ended in Geneva on Dec. 6-7. Deputy Foreign Ministers of Russia, the United States, Great Britain, China, France, Germany and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton also attended the talks. The result of talks was an agreement to continue the consultations in late January in Istanbul.
The U.S. and other Western countries accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of peaceful nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful in nature. Until now, the UN Security Council has adopted six resolutions to stop the nuclear program of Iran and the process of enriching uranium. Four of these resolutions provide economic sanctions against the country. Following the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution No. 1929 on June 9, 2010 , the U.S. Congress unilaterally approved draft sanctions against Iran on 24 June. Until now the EU, Japan, Republic of Korea, India and Australia have shown agreement to these sanctions.