Iran: Future talks depend on P5+1

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the resumption of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 depends on the other side as Iran has already announced its readiness.

“The resumption of talks between our country and the P5+1 depends on the other party. We have already announced our readiness for talks and cooperation,” Mehmanparast said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

He pointed out that Iran has already expressed readiness for negotiations and cooperation based on common grounds, adding that the other party should demonstrate its willingness as well.

“First, the other party should be ready for talks and then the approach toward such talks should be based on cooperation so that the talks would be fruitful and finally [talks] should revolve around mutual concepts,” he said, adding that the talks won’t be fruitful if any of the three conditions are not met.

Mehmanparast added that the two sides can discuss the details of negotiations as soon as the six major powers — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany — announce their readiness.

“Our stance is crystal clear. Anytime they are ready for talks, we can discuss the details,” he noted.

On May 10, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili responded to an earlier letter by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, in which he welcomed talks with the P5+1 based on common grounds and in a pressure-free atmosphere.

Jalili described “respect for nations’ rights and avoidance of pressure” as two very basic principles for cooperation.

Despite Iran’s willingness for the resumption of talks, Ashton, who represents the six major powers, hinted on Thursday that the P5+1 would not hold additional negotiations with Tehran.

Referring to Jalili’s letter, she said, “On its own, Dr. Jalili’s letter does not contain anything new and does not seem to justify a further meeting.”

This comes as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also expressed Tehran’s readiness to hold talks with the P5+1 based on mutual respect.

“The Islamic Republic has always been ready to hold talks in fair and respectful conditions,” said President Ahmadinejad in a live televised interview on Monday.

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.

In a letter sent to Iran in early February following the January talks in Istanbul, Ashton reiterated the group’s position on Iran’s nuclear program but also affirmed that the world powers were keen to continue talks with Iran without any preconditions.