By IANS,
Vienna : The six major countries that used to engage in Iran nuclear talks Thursday called on the country to enter fresh dialogues “without pre-conditions.”
The six, namely the US, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain, made the call in a joint statement at a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported Xinhua.
“We call on Iran to enter, without pre-conditions, into a sustained process of serious dialogue, which will produce concrete results,” the statement said.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton announced Tuesday that the six countries have accepted an Iranian offer to revive negotiations after months of stalemate.
The six countries also urged Iran to allow international inspectors to visit Parchin site in Iran, a military installation suspected of having nuclear warhead-related research and experimental activities.
IAEA head Yukiya Amano has said he was “disappointed” that in recent nuclear talks Iran refused to grant the agency’s experts access to the site.
In response, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh has explained that access to Parchin can be granted when Iranian officials and the agency can agree on the conditions under which such a visit would take place.
The six countries stressed the need and urgency to reach agreement over Iran’ s nuclear issue on a structured approach, based on the IAEA verification practices, “to resolve all outstanding issues, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions”.
“Our overall goal remains a comprehensive negotiated, long-term solution, on the basis of reciprocity and a step-by-step approach, which restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme,” the joint statement said.
“We also reaffirm our continuing support for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and readiness to restart dialogue with Iran,” the statement added.
The West accuses Iran of attempting to develop nuclear weapons, but the latter denies that and says its nuclear program is only for peaceful use.