Iran, P5+1 wrap up first day of talks in Almaty

Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers have wrapped up the first day of the comprehensive talks in the Kazakh city of Almaty with the main focus on Iran’s nuclear energy program.
During a press conference after Friday talks, Undersecretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Baqeri said Iran and the P5+1 group — the US, Britain, China, France, and Russia plus Germany — will resume talks in Almaty on Saturday.

Baqeri added that Iran’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, who is also the secretary of the SNSC, has responded to the P5+1 questions in detail on Friday.

Meanwhile, Iranian and Russian negotiators met on the sidelines of the talks in addition to other bilateral meetings which were held between Iran and P5+1 officials.

Earlier, Baqeri said that Tehran has offered the P5+1 group “clear proposals to launch a new round of cooperation” between the two sides.

“The proposals were presented using the framework that was outlined [during a previous round of talks] in Moscow,” he said.

Tehran and the P5+1 have already held several rounds of talks the last round of which took place in Almaty on February 26-27.

The US, Israel and some of their allies claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and the European Union using the false claim as pretext to impose illegal sanctions against Iran.

Tehran rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.