AFP: Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Thursday insisted he would meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana November 30 in London, although Brussels said there was no still date for the encounter. TEHRAN (AFP) Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Thursday insisted he would meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana November 30 in London, although Brussels said there was no still date for the encounter.
“I will meet Mr Solana next Friday in London,” Jalili told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Tehran, specifying that he was referring to November 30.
However Solana’s spokeswoman said Wednesday there was “no date” for a meeting between Solana and Jalili, which would be the latest attempt by the two sides to break the deadlock in the nuclear crisis.
Solana must report to the UN Security Council by the end of November on Tehran’s willingness to comply with the council’s demand to freeze uranium enrichment, a potential bomb-making process.
He has tried to persuade Tehran to resume talks on suspending uranium enrichment in exchange for a package of political and economic incentives but Tehran has refused to offer concessions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reaffirmed Tehran’s defiant stance on Wednesday, saying it would not give “the slightest concession” in the nuclear standoff with the West.
There was no immediate reaction from the European Union to Jalili’s comments and it was not clear whether his remarks represented a final confirmation that the talks were going ahead.
Solana spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said late Wednesday there was “still nothing” and “no date” for any meeting.
Solana also expressed doubts whether the meeting could take place in the next two weeks.
“I have been in contact with them (the Iranians). I don’t see this week because they have not offered any date. I will be at their disposal this week but it has not been possible,” he told reporters in Brussels.
“Next week will be very difficult,” he said. Solana is due to take part in a key Middle East peace conference in the United States on Tuesday.
Washington accuses Tehran of using its programme as cover for a drive to develop an atomic bomb. Iran strongly denies that charge, saying it wants only to generate electricity.
