Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) held their expert-level nuclear talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
No details of the talks and its result provided so far.
Earlier, EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton called on the P5+1 group of world powers to be “determined and creative” in the upcoming talks with Iran.
At their latest round of talks which was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26-27, Iran and the P5+1 agreed to hold an “expert-level” meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 18.
Both sides have expressed hope and optimism about the future of the talks. On February 28, Reuters quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as said about the Almaty meeting that, “This was more constructive and more positive than previous meetings because they were really focusing on the proposal on the table.”
Iran’s delegation is led by Hamid Reza Asqari, legal advisor to the Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and a longtime member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team.
P5+1’s team is said to be led by Stephene Clement, an aide to Ashton.
