“Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear issue will be held soon between Iranian and European officials,” the As-Safir newspaper quoted Ashton as telling reporters.
Senior officials from the EU and Iran wrapped up talks in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon and agreed to make "contact" between Ashton and Iran's lead negotiator Saeed Jalili. The Istanbul meeting between Ashton's deputy, Helga Schmid, and her Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri, was called after high-level talks in Moscow last month between Iran and the 5+1group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) failed to produce a breakthrough.
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