'P5+1' - Iran may meet in November

The next round of nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 group and Iran can be held in November, after the sides agree on the place, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Ryabkov said, Interfax reported.

Ryabkov told Interfax that the next meeting will probably be held between High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

As for the place, Ryabkov noted that this will be decided later, yet he said "it will not be Moscow".

Several days ago Catherine Ashton said she hopes the nuclear talks with Iran would "advance very soon".

"I hope we will be able to make progress very soon," Catherine Ashton, who represents six major powers in their on-and-off talks with Iran, told reporters ahead of the meeting, referring to the resumption of talks.

"I absolutely think there is room for negotiations," she said.

Iran insists its nuclear work has only peaceful dimensions and has refused in three rounds of talks since April to scale it back unless major economic sanctions are lifted.

But governments in Europe and the United States have refused to do so and, instead, are tightening the financial screws against Tehran as fears grow that the nuclear dispute could envelop the Middle East in a new war.

Ashton last met Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili in Istanbul in September, in talks that her spokesman described as "useful and constructive".


/Trend/