Iran nuclear talks to resume in Turkey - Turkish FM

Iran and major international powers have reached an agreement to resume talks in Turkey on the Islamic republic's nuclear program, Trend cites Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying.

Davutoglu said he had talks with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, about his recent visit to Tehran and that he now expects the talks with Tehran to resume as soon as possible. "Both parties agreed in principle to hold talks in Turkey, and I hope negotiations will begin as soon as possible," the foreign minister was quoted as saying in an interview with the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), published on Sunday.

Davutoglu's remarks came after he visited Tehran last week, where he said he delivered a Western offer to Iranian authorities to resume negotiations on the country's nuclear program, a year after the talks stalled. Speaking after talks on Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, Davutoglu said Salehi had "responded in kind" to the Western offer that he brought and that he was hoping the talks could soon be revived.

For his part, Salehi said Iran was also ready to return to talks with major world powers -- the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (P5+1) -- at a time and place agreed by both sides.