Iran and EU launch N-talks

BRUSSELS: Three European powers and Iran began talks on a long-term agreement on nuclear, economic and security cooperation on Monday with both sides seeking to build trust amid continuing suspicion over Tehran’s atomic programme.

The meeting between Iranian negotiator Hassan Rohani, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana followed Iran’s agreement last month to suspend activities that could help make a nuclear bomb.

“Our intention here is (that) through political dialogue we will establish such confidence that there will be no concern left for anyone,” Rohani, the secretary of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, told a joint press conference. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who hosted the 90-minute meeting, said a key aim of the talks would be “to provide objective guarantees that Iran’s nuclear programme can only be used for peaceful purposes”.

Neither side mentioned the lingering dispute over research work on gas centrifuges at the press conference. reuters

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