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                World Powers, Iran Agree to Future Nuclear Talks

   by VOA News

   Two days of talks between world powers and Iran about the country's
   controversial nuclear program have resulted in an agreement to continue
   negotiations, but no major breakthroughs.
   The meetings Tuesday and Wednesday in Almaty, Kazakhstan were the first
   since last June, when negotiations broke apart amid rigid demands by
   both sides.
   They now plan to hold expert-level talks next month in Istanbul,
   Turkey, followed by another round of meetings between top negotiators
   in Almaty in early April.
   The so-called P5+1 group of nations -- the United States, Britain,
   France, Russia, China and Germany -- offered this week to ease some
   sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to halt some of its nuclear
   activity.
   London correspondent for VOA Persian Bijan Farhoodi is in Kazakhstan
   and says the group is very much concerned about Iran's 20 percent
   uranium enrichment, which makes Tehran closer to reaching the uranium
   grade fit for making an atomic bomb.
   "So, what they want is Iran to stop its 20 percent production of
   uranium and to close the Fordo enrichment plant near Qom and send out
   whatever reserve of 20 percent that they have outside Iran," he said.
   Farhoodi says that Iranian officials are preparing several
   counter-offers and will produce the one they consider commensurate to
   the benefits offered by the other nations.  But he adds the upcoming
   Iranian elections may affect the deal.
   "It seems that everything is now dependent on the Iranian presidential
   elections, so what they care for is what's going to happen in the
   election.  And some sources say that (chief negotiator Saeed) Jalili is
   not willing to make any deal, any substantial deal before the
   elections, that he doesn't want to be seen as a weak negotiator," he
   said.
   ''U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is urging Iran to move towards a
   diplomatic solution.  Kerry met Tuesday with his German counterpart in
   Berlin and "expressed hope" that "Iran itself will make its choice to
   move down the path of a diplomatic solution."
   The International Atomic Energy Agency recently said that Iran has
   begun installing a new generation of centrifuges at its Natanz
   enrichment plant, a move U.S. officials have deemed "provocative."
   Over the past few years, the United Nations Security Council has
   imposed sanctions on Iran in an effort to pressure it to curb its
   enrichment program.  Several other countries, including the United
   States, have imposed their own additional measures.
   The U.S. and other world powers suspect Iran is using its nuclear
   program to develop nuclear weapons.  Iran says its program has peaceful
   aims.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/world-powers-iran-hold-nuclear-talks/
   1610832.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/world-powers-iran-hold-nuclear-talks/1610832.html