Iran: We welcome fair and purposeful nuclear talks

Iranian FM spokesman says Teheran still waiting for a response from Catherine Ashton on pre-conditions cited before discussions can resume.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE BUSHEHR nuclear plant in southern Iran 311 (photo credit: AP)
THE BUSHEHR nuclear plant in southern Iran 311
(photo credit: AP)
Iran welcomes any "fair and purposeful" talks with the West over its nuclear program and plans, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.
In a weekly press conference, Ramin Mehmanparast said that discussions on the issue, should they be non-confrontational, could have positive, "fruitful" results.
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He added that Iran was yet to hear back from EU's foriegn policy chief, Catherine Ashton, on a letter sent to her by Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on July 6,  saying that a number of conditions would have to be met before the talks could resume.
"Once the direction of the negotiations becomes clear, Iran will be ready for talks on constructive international cooperation to remove common concerns," Jalili reportedly wrote.
Ashton suggested last Thursday that talks be held in Vienna "over three days in mid-November," with the participation of the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany.
On Sunday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad endorsed the resumption of talks with the international community and added that the West had made the first step.
"They have come and said, 'We will negotiate,'" Ahmadinejad told a crowd of supporters in the northwestern city of Ardebil, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) northwest of Teheran. "We say, 'All right, we will negotiate with you.'"    
Ahmadinejad also claimed the United States will one day apologize and beg Teheran for the two countries resume to diplomatic relations, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"A day will come when the US, its arrogance at its weakest point, will come to Iran and while apologizing, will plead with Teheran that relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran be restored," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying late Sunday.
Ahmadinejad claimed that "despite all their threats," the US sanctions and pressures have not hurt Iran.