'Iran says nuclear talks to be finalized in days'

At ceremony receiving Turkish PM, Salehi says talks expected to take place next month, venue will be finalized within days.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Salehi 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Salehi 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Renewed nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of nuclear negotiators are expected to take place on April 13, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Wednesday, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.
A venue for the talks will be finalized in the coming days, Salehi said at a ceremony welcoming Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran, adding that Istanbul has expressed readiness to host the talks.
Erdogan arrived in Tehran Wednesday morning for a two-day visit that will include meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani. Salehi received the Turkish delegation upon its arrival in Tehran.
Erdogan arrived with a delegation including his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, his energy minister, undersecretary of intelligence, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, head of the Turkish Atomic Energy Organization and a number of parliamentarians, official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
The talks were expected to cover Iran's nuclear program, recent developments in the Middle East and ties between the two countries, according to the report.
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Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat
On Tuesday, a Western diplomat told Reuters he expected the meetings to be held on April 13-14, while another envoy said those dates had not been confirmed and a third suggested later in the month was possible. The venue was unclear, they said.
A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who handles dealings with Iran on behalf of the big powers, said "nothing has been decided yet" regarding the time and place for a meeting.
The last meeting over the nuclear work that Iran says is peaceful but the West suspects has military links took place in Istanbul in January 2011, when the two sides failed even to agree on an agenda.
Reuters contributed to this report.