(AP) George Jahn - As Iran and world powers prepare for new nuclear talks, letters by Tehran's envoys to top international officials and shared with the Associated Press suggest major progress is unlikely, with Tehran combative and unlikely to offer any concessions. A letter addressed to Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, slams her offer to resume talks a day after the UN Security Council passed its fourth set of sanctions. The second letter says that "irrational conditions" imposed by the West are blocking a new round of fuel swap talks. Addressed to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano and signed by Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief IAEA delegate, the letter accuses the five permanent members of the UN Security Council of poisoning the atmosphere "through (the) imposition of another illegal resolution." While both letters say Iran is ready to talk, the one to Ashton - the point person for the six big powers - sets the bar perhaps unreachably high, suggesting that Tehran is prepared to come to the table only if the other side ends its "hostility," avoids "any kind of pressure or threat," and states its "clear position on the nuclear weapons of the Zionist regime."
2010-08-05 08:18:32Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive