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EU wants progress in Iran-P5+1 talks

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says her visit to Turkey is to help next week’s multifaceted talks between the P5+1 and Iran in Istanbul.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on Thursday, Ashton said that the EU is determined to move forward in the comprehensive negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany– in Istanbul.

” I am not going to go into any detail, that’s for the negotiations themselves, but I think there’s a strong commitment for us to be here in order to try and show progress in tackling an issue of great concern to us, which is the issues of nuclear weapons and Iran,” AP quoted Ashton as saying

According to Fars News Agency, Ashton said a meeting after just two months from the one in Geneva shows the negotiating sides have adopted a constructive approach.

She went on to say that she is confident that what the EU wants to see next week is progress in the multifaceted talks.

Davutoglu, for his part, said that next week’s meeting would provide a great opportunity not only for the negotiating sides but for the entire world.

Earlier on Thursday, the Turkish foreign minister, whose country will host comprehensive talks, met with Ali Baqeri, Iran’s deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, to discuss preparations for the negotiations.

Although Turkey will not be directly involved in this round of negotiations, Davutoglu expressed hope that the Istanbul talks would be constructive and that progress would be made.

Iran and the P5+1 representatives held their previous round of multifaceted talks in Geneva on December 6 and 7, during which both sides agreed to hold the next round of negotiations in the Turkish city of Istanbul on January 21 and 22.

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