Tehran has replied to the head of EU diplomacy, Catherine Ashton. Iran agreed to hold talks with the six mediators of the nuclear program (Russia, China, the USA, France and the UK), Reuters cites Iranian media.
The letter to Ashton was handed by the Iranian ambassador in Vienna. In his letter, the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme Council for National Security, Saeed Jalili, said that the meeting must be fair and without pressure.
The previous talks of Tehran and the six mediators were held in Istanbul on January 21-22. Catherine Ashton said that no results were achieved.
The six mediators and the IAEA have been trying since 2003 to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment as a threat to the regime of non-proliferation of nuclear arms.
The talks were halted in 2009, when the IAEA condemned Iran for constructing a second uranium-enrichment plant and urged Tehran to avoid building any other nuclear facilities without informing the IAEA.
The USA and a set of other Western states accuse Iran of developing nuclear arms against the background of a peaceful atomic program. Tehran denies all the accusations and insists that the program is to fulfil the demand for electricity.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution in June 2010, introducing harsher sanctions against Iran. It is the fourth resolution of the Security Council on Iran. It was passed due to the refusal of Tehran to fulfil its international obligations and clarify a set of issues on the nuclear program, including its military aspect.
