Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

A meeting of senior officials from six major powers will be held in Brussels on July 16 under the chairmanship of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Reuters quoted Ashton's spokesman Michael Mann as saying.

During the meeting the parties will discuss how to move forward nuclear negotiations with Iran following the election of a new president, the report said.

Senior officials from the six powers - the U.S, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - will discuss "how to move forward in the Iran nuclear file".

"We are keen to make concrete progress in the talks (with Iran)," Mann said.

Earlier Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said that there will not be any nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1 until the inauguration of president-elect Hassan Rouhani.

According to him, the transition term between the current and next Iranian administration must pass, then Iran can schedule a meeting with the six powers.

The inauguration of newly elected President Hassan Rouhani will be held in the Iranian parliament on August 4.

International hopes for a resolution of the nuclear dispute were boosted by the election of Rouhani as he has promised a more conciliatory approach to foreign relations than incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over turning down Wesern calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

In Almaty, in April, the six powers had asked Tehran to suspend its most sensitive nuclear work in return for some relief in economic sanctions.

Tehran had said the offer was not enough. It reiterated its calls that they recognize its right to refine uranium and end oil and financial sanctions.

Furthermore, in 2012, representatives of P5+1 group and Iran held three rounds of talks in Istanbul (April 14), Baghdad (May 23-24) and Moscow (June 18-19). None of these meetings resulted in breakthroughs on disputed nuclear issues.