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This is an archive article published on August 18, 2009
Iran 8216;ready for unconditional nuclear talks8217;
A top Iranian nuclear official said Tehran was ready to hold talks with the West on its atomic drive "without preconditions," state television reported.
A top Iranian nuclear official said Tehran was ready to hold talks with the West on its atomic drive 8220;without preconditions,8221; state television reported on Tuesday,amid US threats of more sanctions.
8220;Negotiations without preconditions is Iran8217;s main stance on the nuclear issue,8221; Iran8217;s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency,Ali Asghar Soltanieh,was quoted as saying. Six major powers involved in the talks,the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany,called in April for a resumption of the negotiations,which had stalled in September.
US President Barack Obama has given Iran until September to take up the six-power offer of talks on trade benefits if it freezes uranium enrichment,or face harsher sanctions.
But prospects of a breakthrough have been clouded by the deep political turmoil in Iran over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad8217;s disputed re-election in June. Iran has said it is drafting a new package for the world powers in a bid to solve global issues,including the nuclear dossier. Soltanieh8217;s comments come a day before Ahmadinejad,who set Iran on a collision course with the West during his first four-year term is due to submit his new cabinet to parliament for approval.
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