Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The six world powers and Iran has agreed to hold the next meeting in Geneva on October 15-16 for solution of the nuclear standoff over Tehran's nuclear program.

The talks between Iran and the six major world powers -- the US, the UK, France, China, and Russia plus Germany -- took place on September 26 on the sidelines of the 68th annual session of the UN General Assembly.

After the meeting the sides of the nuclear talks expressed satisfaction with the negotiation.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Iran and the six major world powers have held substantial talks at the UN, setting the stage for a new round of negotiations next month.

"It was a substantial meeting, good atmosphere, energetic," Ashton said. "We had a discussion about how we would forward with an ambitious timeframe to see if we could make progress quickly."

Ashaton appreciated Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for talking so "openly", and said she is very ambitious for what we can do, but we all know we have to be very practical, Press TV reported.

The EU foreign policy chief also said that Iran could either respond to the proposals of the P5+1 group or offer its own before next month's talks.

Besides, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the tone and spirit of the meeting has been very good, and indeed a big improvement on the tone and spirit of previous meetings on this issue.

"We've all established good working relations with Zarif during this week in New York and this meeting was a reflection of that. We have all talked about the importance of reaching a peaceful and negotiated solution on this issue, and our commitment to seek to do that," Hague said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said all sanctions against Iran have to be lifted in the final stage of talks on the country's nuclear energy program.

Zarif described the talks with the foreign ministers of the P5+1 group as "very good and substantive" and said the result would have to include "a total lifting" of the international sanctions.

Iran and the P5+1 have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Tehran's nuclear energy program.

The two sides wrapped up their latest round of negotiations in April in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the talks as "constructive," but said "there's a lot of work to be done" with questions still remaining about Iran's nuclear energy program.

Speaking to CBS News flagship 60 Minutes on September 26, Kerry said the sanctions could be eased if Iran takes rapid measures to cooperate with the international monitoring of its nuclear energy program.

He said that Iran should, for example, reduce the level of its uranium enrichment.

"The United States is not going to lift the sanctions until it is clear that a very verifiable, accountable, transparent process is in place, whereby we know exactly what Iran is doing with its program," Kerry said.

Iran's new government is strongly committed to engage in nuclear talks with Western governments to resolve the long-lasted nuclear dispute, and at the same time to achieve simplification of the sanctions imposed on its economy.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a think tank forum in New York on September 26 that Iran is committed to negotiating on its nuclear energy program in good faith, and wants to resolve the issue soon.

"We are fully prepared to seriously engage in the process toward a negotiated and mutually agreeable settlement and do so in good faith and with a business-like mind," Rouhani said.

Some of Western countries accuse Iran in pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

However, Tehran argues that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

Iran also reiterates that its main demand is that its right to uranium enrichment, as stipulated in the NPT, be recognized.