By Xinhua,
Geneva : Top EU diplomatic official Javier Solana started a nuclear talks with Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili here on Saturday at the presence of U.S. Under Secretary of State William Burns.
Burns, the first U.S. diplomat to attend negotiations with Iran in 30 years, was here to witness the whole process of the talks.
Though Burns will not take an active role at the meeting, but his presence was widely seen as a major policy shift of Washington on Iran.
At the one-day meeting, Solana is expected to sound out Iran’s position on the long dispute. The West fears that Iran’s nuke drive is aimed at making atomic bombs instead of generating electricity.
The three sides were also to discuss a package of incentives offered by world powers to Tehran in a bid to breathe life into the deadlocked nuke talks.
Shortly before the meeting, a senior Iranian official said hereon anonymity that Iran will not halt its uranium enrichment at any circumstances. The freezing of uranium enrichment has been the key demand of the West.
There has “no chance” that Iran will stop its uranium enrichment, the official said.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki hailed the nuclear talks as a positive step, adding that more meetings may be needed to produce result.
“We evaluate today’s Geneva negotiations as positive and constructive,” Mottaki told reporters in Tehran. “Today’s meeting might continue with several others so that the view points of all sides can be put on the table.”
The Iranian foreign minister hoped the talks will create a “framework” for future negotiations aiming at ending the nuclear stalemate.
“I hope that today’s talks will lead to a framework for negotiations,” he said, adding that the talks can satisfy both sides.