DUBAI - Iran said on Wednesday a delay by world powers in agreeing to
preparatory talks has thrown doubt on the next round of negotiations
over the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program, the state news
agency IRNA reported.
Iran's ISNA news agency said on Tuesday
Tehran had written twice to Britain, France, Russia, China, the United
States and Germany - otherwise known as the P5+1 - seeking preparatory
meetings before talks in Moscow, but had yet to hear back.
"The
other side's delaya in meeting deputies and experts throws doubt and
ambiguity on their readiness for successful talks," said Iran's chief
negotiator Saeed Jalili in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton, according to IRNA.
A
spokeswoman for Ashton said she would contact Jalili before the planned
Moscow negotiations but saw no need for further preparatory meetings.
"We
have made it very clear that preparatory work is ongoing and political
issues need to be dealt with on political level. That's why the high
representative will reach out to Jalili and this will happen before the
next round in Moscow," Ashton's spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said.
"We are not against technical meetings in principle but timing is not really right for that," she said.
It
is unclear what Iran aims to gain from the proposed preparatory talks.
Western diplomats have often accused Tehran of seeking to buy time for
its nuclear activities by trying to engage in talks about process rather
than substance, without real intention of making any concrete
concessions.
Western nations suspect that the Islamic Republic's
higher-grade uranium enrichment is part of a clandestine program to
develop the material and components needed for a capacity to produce
nuclear arms. Iran denies this.
Negotiations are due to resume in Moscow on June 18, almost a month after the last round in Baghdad.
On
Tuesday, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader was quoted as saying the
talks could have a positive outcome if world powers recognized Iran's
"nuclear rights".