Iran nuclear delegation heads to Almaty for P5+1 talks

 The Iranian delegation, headed by Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Saeed Jalili, left Tehran on Wednesday.

The two-day talks, which will cover a range of topics including Iran’s nuclear energy program, has been scheduled to take place later this week on April 5-6.

Iran and the P5+1 (China, Russia, France, Britain and the US plus Germany) have held several rounds of talks with a focus on the Iranian nuclear energy program. The last round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group was held in Almaty on February 26-27.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said it is possible for Tehran and the P5+1 group to reach an agreement in the upcoming talks, if the group continues with the approach demonstrated in the first round of talks.

Mehmanparast reiterated that despite the unreasonable attitude demonstrated by the Western members of the group in the past, the Iranian side always entered talks with a positive attitude.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.