Speaking at a press conference after a bilateral meeting with Ashton, who represents the world powers in talks with Tehran, in Istanbul on Wednesday, the Iranian negotiator described his Tuesday night meeting with Ashton as "good", and said, "At this meeting we reviewed the discussions raised in the Moscow talks and the contents of the experts meeting (in Istanbul in July), and we studied the common points which can serve as a platform for cooperation and further talks."
"We are always ready for talks and we have declared that we are ready to hear your response to Iran's plan," Jalili added.
He said Ashton is due to inform the Group 5+1 member states (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) of the conclusions reached in the Tuesday meeting.
Jalili alluded that he and Ashton have come to the conclusion that "the viewpoints raised in Moscow and Istanbul have reached a common point", and now a decision can be made for the start of the next round of talks.
Quoting Ashton's remarks about the Tuesday night meeting, who had described the talks as "useful", Jalili said, "We hope that we can help bring the viewpoints closer."
Following the Tuesday meeting with Jalili, Ashton described the talks as "useful" and "constructive".
"While it was not a formal negotiating round it was a useful and constructive meeting," said a declaration issued by EU High Representative Ashton's spokesman Michael Mann after a Tuesday night meeting between Ashton and Jalili.
No statements were made to the press at the beginning of Tuesday's meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, which was held behind closed doors at the Iranian consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The talks followed negotiations in Moscow in June, a meeting of the respective heads' deputies in July and phone calls made over the summer.
Mann also said that Ashton aims to meet with world powers in the coming days "in order to assess the situation and to discuss the way forward".
The foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany are due in New York for the United Nations General Assembly going into a "ministerial week" due to begin formally on September 24.
AFP reported that Ashton plans to meet these key figures in the margins of the UN talks, in a bid to get stop-start international diplomacy over Tehran's nuclear program back moving.
Jalili met earlier Tuesday with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to discuss the Tehran-West talks.
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Iran's lead negotiator in talks with the world powers, Saeed Jalili, described his Tuesday night meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as "good", and said Tehran is waiting for the world powers' response to its proposal which was presented in the Moscow talks earlier this year.
News ID 182764
