EU hopeful of breakthrough in Iran talks

EU negotiators are confident that a new package aimed at breaking the deadlock over Iran’s nuclear programme will help move talks forward.

Javier Solana, the EU’s chief foreign policy negotiator, met with his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani on Thursday, and said that talks had got off to “a good start”.

The two men will meet again on July 11, and Solana is confident that a formal response from Tehran to the package of trade and other incentives will be forthcoming.

The EU is hopeful that an agreement can be reached with Iran ahead of the G8 summit in St Petersburg on July15, but no official deadlines have been set.

The call for swift action was echoed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, taking part in a webchat earlier this week.

“The Iranian leadership said it is ready for dialogue and will answer by August. In our view they could have done this earlier,” he said.

Putin remains convinced that a diplomatic solution can be found, and reiterated warnings against imposing sanctions on Iran if it fails to act.

US officials are losing patience with Tehran, and are calling for the UN to block trade with the Middle Eastern state if it refuses to back down over plans to enrich uranium.

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