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Davutoğlu calls for a new set of P5+1 negotiations

13 July 2011 [10:00] - TODAY.AZ
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, after a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad late Monday, expressed hope that negotiations would restart between Iran and the so-called P5+1 countries.

“We hope that negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 countries restart,” Davutoğlu was quoted as saying. “We are willing to fulfill our tasks on this matter.”

Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, which refers to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, broke down after the parties failed to agree on the subject of meetings. Western countries have hoped that negotiations with Iran will focus on halting the country’s uranium enrichment program, while Iran says it wants negotiate on a host of issues, including the dropping of sanctions.

During his trip, Davutoğlu also met with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Secretary-General of the National High Security Council Saeed Jalili in talks that focused largely on events taking place in Syria. Davutoğlu, pointing out that the last set of negotiations between the parties took place in Istanbul, said he had been informed of a new letter that was sent by the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton to Jalili. “The Iranian side said they were ready to have negotiations again in Istanbul,” Davutoğlu said. Davutoğlu is set to meet with Ashton on Thursday in Istanbul on the sidelines of the Libya Contact Group meetings.

Davutoğlu reiterated that he hoped to see a peaceful resolution to violence taking place in Syria, calling in particular for a peaceful month of Ramadan, which is to begin in August. “Let’s hope that in the coming days these steps will be taken and especially the tension in Hama will come to an end,” Davutoğlu said. Following his meeting with Davutoğlu, Salehi met with International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, chief Yukiya Amano on Tuesday, saying Iran wanted closer cooperation with the U.N. atomic watchdog but said the Vienna-based agency must agree to “explicit” guidelines.


/Hurriyet Daily News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/90269.html

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