Second round of Iranian nuclear talks starts in Kazakhstan

The second round of the Iranian nuclear talks started today in the Kazakhstani city of Almaty. Representatives of the 5+1 group (the USA, the UK, China, Russia, France and Germany) are trying to persuade Iran to suspend the country's nuclear project, which is widely believed to have a military component.

The head of the Iranian National Security Council, Said Jalili, said yesterday that the position of the 5+1 group has become 'more realistic', but that mutual misunderstanding remains a severe problem.

The Russian official at the talks, Sergey Ryabkov, who currently serves as the country's deputy foreign minister, said it was too soon to make a final judgement on the possible success of the talks.