Technical experts met in Turkey for discussions on Iran’s nuclear program with the aim to see whether there is enough common ground to return to full-fledged talks.
The low-level meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday followed three rounds of nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers that have failed to produce a breakthrough and is aimed to see whether there is enough common ground to return to full-fledged talks.
The United States, Israel and others believe Iran seeks to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is purely for civilian purposes, such as producing energy and medical isotopes.
Speaking the day before the talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran wants a “win-win” outcome in its talks with world powers, warning that the only other choice is confrontation. “We are looking for a deal and not a confrontation, but if they [world powers] want to react unwisely, they should know that Iran will firmly defend its rights as it did during the Iran-Iraq war” in the 1980s, he said.
The US and EU have imposed several rounds of sanctions to pressure Iran into terminating its uranium enrichment program. An EU ban on the purchase of Iranian oil took effect on Sunday, just days after new US sanctions prohibiting the world’s banks from completing oil transactions with Iranian banks were also put in place. Iran acknowledged that the measures were taking a toll, saying it has stockpiled goods and hard currency to help cushion the economy.
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