Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Saeed Jalili and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will meet prior to the next round of nuclear talks, Head of Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reported.
Iran and the "5+1" group held nuclear negotiations in Moscow on June 18-19. Prior to that the sides met in Baghdad (May 23), Turkey (April 14).
Tehran and the P5+1 had as well held three rounds of talks earlier; one in Geneva in December 2010 and two in Istanbul in January 2011.
Lavrov reminded that at the Moscow meeting an agreement was reached to hold another round of expert talks on Iran's nuclear program in Istanbul on July 3. After that, a meeting between Jalili and Ashton is scheduled.
Lavrov added that the next date for nuclear talks will be established after the Jalili-Ashton meeting.
U.S., other Western countries, and Israel suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
A number of states and international organizations, including the United Nations, adopted sanctions against Iran demanding from the Islamic republic to ensure full transparency of its nuclear program and to prove that it is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
Edited by: S. Isayev