Thaindian News

Moscow, June 7 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Iran has said the EU’s failure to arrange experts’ meeting for drafting an agenda about the nuclear talks has created an atmosphere of doubt and ambiguity.

On Wednesday, Tehran said the failure to draft an agenda for the upcoming nuclear talks in Moscow was not conducive to their success, IRNA news agency reported.

Western nations and Israel want to persuade Iran to give up its uranium enrichment programme, which they suspect is aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is merely designed to generate energy.

Iran’s Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili wrote to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton Wednesday, saying that the EU’s failure to arrange experts’ meeting to draft an agenda for the talks created an atmosphere of doubt and ambiguity for the Moscow talks.

Russia is hosting the third round of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme June 18-19.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran… wants to advance the nuclear talks,” Jalili said, adding that talks just for the sake of talks “are not useful” and expressed hope that an agenda could still be drafted.

The US has warned of tightening sanctions against Iran if the Moscow negotiations fail to make progress on Iran’s nuclear programme.

“If we don’t get a breakthrough in Moscow there is no question we will continue to ratchet up the pressure,” David Cohen, US treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said.

“The sanctions are having an impact on Iran, but I also recognise that more needs to be done. And we are intent on doing more.”

The previous round of six-nation talks with Iran was held in Baghdad May 23-24.

–IANS/RIA Novosti
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