German, Iran envoys to meet for nuke talks

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. AFP photo

Iran and six world powers met in Istanbul on July 3 for technical talks on Tehran’s contentious nuclear program and are now set to continue with a meeting between envoys from the Islamic republic and Germany.

The meeting between Iran and the “P5+1” – Britain, China, France, Russia, United States, plus Germany – which was conducted at the level of technical experts, was held in Istanbul and lasted for a full day until 1 am on July 3, a spokesperson for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said. 

“The E3+3 [P5+1] provided further detail of the E3+3 proposal given to Iran in Baghdad; Iran shared further detail of their proposal, and the experts explored positions on a number of technical subjects,” Ashton said in her statement following the meeting. 

The negotiations will now continue with a meeting between Helga Schmid, a deputy to Ashton, and Iranian diplomat Ali Bagheri in the upcoming days. 

“As agreed when High Representative and Vice-President Ashton and the E3+3 political directors met with [chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed] Jalili in Moscow, the technical meeting in Istanbul will be followed by a meeting between Helga Schmid and Dr. Ali Bagheri,” Ashton’s statement said. 

The negotiations between Iran and world powers seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Tehran’s nuclear program failed to produce a solution in the last meeting held in Moscow on June 19. 

What is the ‘E3+3’?

While the six world powers are frequently dubbed the P5+1, Ashton described the group as the “E3+3,” which refers to three of the four European countries – Britain, France and Germany – as “E3,” plus the others, China, Russia and the United States, as the “+3.”