Mehmanparast: Talks with 5+1 to be held soon

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the next meeting between Iran and the P5+1 will be held soon. Talking to foreign and domestic reporters on Tuesday, he said Iran has voiced readiness for the talks during correspondence between the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and the European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton. Saying that a number of countries have been considered as host of the talks, he said Turkey’s Istanbul has been officially suggested as the venue of negotiations but its final place and time are yet to be fixed. Asked to comment on western media propaganda about Parchin site, he said this military site was carrying out only normal activities. Had the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation been patient during his recent visit to Iran and spent more time here, he could have visited the site after reaching agreements on new modalities, the spokesman stressed. Noting that the IAEA inspectors have already visited Parchin twice, Mehmanparast said that Iran had nothing against the delegation’s request to visit the site but cooperation between Iran and the IAEA has to follow a certain framework. The spokesman said members of the delegation were unable to visit Parchin because of their own hasty schedule and the emphasis of the IAEA chief that they should leave Iran.