Iran nuclear talks kick off in Moscow

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi attend a joint press conference with in Tehran, Iran, on June 13, 2012. (File photo=Xinhua)

MOSCOW, June 18 (Xinhua) — The latest round of talks between Iran and the world’s six major powers in addition to the European Union (EU) to resolve the nuclear dispute have started in Moscow on Monday.

Representatives from Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China) plus Germany, known as P5+1, were expected to exchange their views and search for a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.

The two-day meeting was scheduled in the Golden Ring hotel in downtown Moscow, opposite to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Before the meeting, spokesman of the China’s Foreign Ministry Liu Weimin said last Thursday the talks “stands at an important phase,” calling on all relevant parties to bear in mind the overall direction of talks on the issue.

The last two rounds of talks over the issue were held in Turkey’s Istanbul in April and the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad in May, with all sides describing the talks as positive and agreeing on further negotiations.

The UN has by now imposed several rounds of sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or materials for bombs.

The EU, the United States and some other countries have imposed oil embargo as part of their sanctions to pressure Tehran into resuming talks on the country’s nuclear program. They have also imposed tough banking sanctions aiming at limiting Iran’s ability to sell oil, which accounts for 80 percent of its foreign revenues.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Sunday that Iran will not step back from its nuclear rights. <Xinhua>

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