Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he is optimistic that talks with the world powers in Baghdad next month would make progress towards resolving Iran’s nuclear issues with the West.
“I see that we are at the beginning of the end of what I call the ‘manufactured Iran file’, ” he told reporters during a visit to Tunis.
“At the Baghdad meeting, I see more progress,” he said.
Iran and the Group 5+1 resumed negotiations in Istanbul on April 14 after more than a year of stalled talks and are due to continue their negotiations in a second meeting in Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad, on May 23.
“The last meeting in Istanbul came up with results that satisfied both sides,” Salehi said.
Salehi said this month that Iran was “ready to resolve all issues very quickly and simply.”
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Monday the West has to give a “correct assessment” of his country’s atomic capabilities in the Baghdad talks.
Jalili, speaking to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said such a stance was needed for the talks to be successful.
“The outcome of the Baghdad meeting relies on a correct assessment by the West of Iran’s national, regional and international capability,” Jalili said.
The countries involved in the talks should realize that the Islamic state has a “consistent determination to consolidate and upgrade its capabilities,” he said.
