Iran says ready to talk over nuclear issue without preconditions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Sunday that Iran was ready to hold talks with five UN Security Council members plus Germany on its nuclear issue with no preconditions.

Hosseini made the remarks when answering a question at his weekly press conference on whether an upcoming security meeting in Baghdad would open doors to negotiations, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The venue is not the question that we lay emphasis on Baghdad meeting," he said, adding that "we are ready to negotiate with ... the permanent members of the UN Security Council including China, Russia, France, Britain, the U.S. plus Germany without any preconditions."

Iraq will host neighboring countries and other world powers on March 10 for a meeting meant to enlist support for Iraqi government efforts at stabilizing the country.

In response to a question on whether he had any recommendations to the Monday meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors, the spokesman said, "The solution to this case is negotiations and anything else will make the case more complicated."

A senior U.S. official said in Washington on Saturday that major powers failed to settle all their differences over a second UN sanctions resolution against Iran for its nuclear activities.

"There is still some work to be done on a few outstanding issues, but all parties remain committed to a second resolution in the near future," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in a statement after U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and his counterparts from China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany held discussions by phone.

"They had a good discussion in keeping with the positive atmosphere of their conversations" in recent days, Cooper said.

The six countries have been negotiating over a new Security Council resolution that will exert more diplomatic pressure on Iran's nuclear program.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Dec. 23, 2006 demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment in 60 days. However, Iran has failed to do so and claimed its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program, a charge that Iran has denied.

Source: Xinhua