Iran has approved talks with the six international mediators as long as they take the process seriously, Iranian Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani said, 1news.az reports.
Larijani met Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Speaker Jemil Cicek and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Turkey.
Iran agreed to discuss accusations about secret development of nuclear weapons on January 28. Authorities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plan to visit Tehran on January 28. There are no details about their topics for discussions, RIA Novosti reports.
The US and a set of other Western states accuse Iran of developing nuclear arms against the background of the peaceful atom. Tehran denies all accusations and insists that the nuclear program is intended to fulfil demands for electricity.
The IAEA published a report on the Iranian nuclear program in late January, stating that Tehran had been developing nuclear arms before 2003 and continues the process. The IAEA passed a resolution on November 18, urging Iran to allow experts of the agency to visit nuclear facilities and start cooperating. The US and EU started discussions about an oil embargo against the Islamic Republic. Iran threatened to block the Hormuz Strait.
The six mediators (Russia, China, US, France, UK and Germany) and the IAEA have been trying to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment since 2003, saying that the process threatens the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Negotiations were hindered in 2009 when the IAEA criticized Iran for building a second uranium-enrichment facility and urged Tehran to confirm that no other unannounced nuclear facilities had been under construction.
