Iran Upbeat after Latest Round of Talks with UN

The latest set of talks between the UN powers and Iran over its controversial nuclear program have finished, and once again no solution has been found; even so, Iran have left the table feeling rather upbeat.

Plans have been made to meet again in Istanbul next month, and Ali Akbar Salehi , Iran’s foreign minister, is optimistic that an agreement can be made, and stating that he was “very confident” that the outcome will be positive.

The UN offered to lift some of the sanctions against Iran if nuclear activity in the country was scaled back in order to reduce fears over the development of a bomb. Tehran refused to comply and continued to maintain that their nuclear research was completely peaceful.

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Saeed Jaleli, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator believes that Iran may begin to discuss its production of high-grade nuclear fuel as the sanctions continue to bite and seriously impact on its economy, stating that it could “be discussed in the negotiations... in view of confidence building.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has said that she hopes “the Iranian side is looking positively on the proposal we put forward.” Although Iran’s presidential election to be held in June means that it is unlikely that much will be sorted before that time as political tensions will reduce the chance of any form of concession.

By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com