“What matters in the end is substance and that we are still a considerable way apart,” said Ashton after the latest round of the talks between Iran and the P5+1 (permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) that wrapped up on Saturday in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
However, the representative of the P5+1 group added, “Indeed, we have talked in much greater detail than ever before, and our efforts will continue in that direction.”
“I believe that we should continue to work as hard as we possibly can to ensure that we are successful and that we reach a satisfactory resolution.”
“For the first time, I’ve seen a real back and forward between us, where we were able to discuss details to pose questions and to get answers directly on the sort of issues that we need to discuss in order to be able to move forward. To that extent, that has been a very important element,” the EU foreign policy chief said.
“We have, therefore, agreed that all sides will go back to their capitals to evaluate where we stand in the process,” she noted.
Following the two-day talks, the Islamic Republic also released a statement, saying, “In the past two days, substantive, extensive and comprehensive discussions, addressing the various dimensions of the plan of action tabled by Iran took place and representatives of the six countries sought numerous clarifications and posed many questions about Iran's proposed plan. In response, Iran provided extensive answers.”
“Of course, there is some distance between the positions of the two sides,” the statement by Iran added.
Ashton also said she will be in touch with Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili “very soon in order to see how to go forward.”
After the Saturday meeting, Jalili said Iran has provided a comprehensive operational plan to the P5+1 and it is now up to the group to decide on how to respond to the Iranian proposals.
Tehran and the P5+1 have held several rounds of talks. The previous round of talks took place in Almaty on February 26-27.