‘Iran ready for talks on common ground’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has reiterated Iran’s unchanged stance on talks with the P5+1, saying Tehran is ready for negotiations based on common ground.

“We have already announced that we are ready for talks with respect to cooperation on common ground,” said Mehmanparast at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

He said that Iran has not changed its policy regarding the negotiations, reiterating that Tehran welcomed talks that aim to develop “effective and constructive cooperation.”

He went on to say that any misunderstanding regarding Iran’s nuclear program could be cleared through “positive, constructive” interaction.

His comment came in response to a question about a recent letter by Iran’s Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday that the letter was sent by Mr. Jalili to Ms. Ashton to inform her about Iran’s readiness for talks with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany.

In the letter, Iran said that it has always been ready to hold talks on common ground in order to reach an understanding, Salehi said.

A spokesman for Ashton said on the same day that the letter was received and would be studied carefully.

Iran and the P5+1 held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010 and in the Turkish city of Istanbul last January.

Regarding Iran’s nuclear activities, Mehmanparast said that Iran has been fully cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He said that Iran’s nuclear program was totally peaceful as verified by numerous reports of the IAEA and was carried out within the full supervision of the nuclear body.