Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator in Spain for talks

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Sep. 07 – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator has arrived in Madrid for talks with Spanish officials over Tehran’s nuclear standoff with the international community. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Sep. 07 – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator has arrived in Madrid for talks with Spanish officials over Tehran’s nuclear standoff with the international community.

Ali Larijani, Secretary-General of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), is expected to meet Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos during his one-day visit, the official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

His trip to Madrid coincides with a visit by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but the two are not expected to meet, it said.

Annan was in Tehran over the weekend and unsuccessfully tried to talk the theocratic government into cooperating with the demands of the UN Security Council.

The Security Council adopted Resolution 1696 on July 31 demanding that Tehran suspend all its uranium enrichment activities by August 31 or face the threat of sanctions.

Tehran missed the deadline and has consistently vowed never to abandon uranium enrichment.

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohammad ElBaradei reported last week that Tehran had not suspended its uranium enrichment activities and had blocked IAEA inspectors from inspecting its nuclear facilities.